Time Changes Everything
by XtremeMNCowgirl
Summary: Randy returns home not only for a show but for a funeral where he reunites with the past love that haunts him. But will he be able to break down her walls and convince her to love him the way he still loves her?
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the WWE characters (although, I sure can dream!) so please don't sue me! This is a completely fictional story. And FYI, some events have been changed to fit the story.

**April 1st, 2006**

Juliana woke up from her dream to her phone ringing. She looked at her alarm clock and groaned in horror to see it was 6:30am. She stretched as she reached for the phone, "Hello?" She said mid-yawn.

"Hey girlie! Why are you still sleeping? Don't you know what today is?" Her best friend Nicole replied way too happy for that early in the morning.

"Nikki, it's my birthday. Don't you think I should sleep in?" Juliana replied.

"Hell no! I have a whole day planned out for you! So get up, hop in the shower, and by the time you're done, I'll be picking out something for you to wear! You only turn 25 once!" Nikki replied.

Juliana laughed, "I take it you still have a set of my keys?"

"Hey, you gave them to me, and I'm never giving them back!" Nikki replied. "See ya in a few minutes, hurry up and get in the shower!"

Juliana hung up the phone and got out of bed. She groaned and stretched again. She walked into the bathroom and turned on the shower. She slipped off her nightshirt and looked in the mirror. She was 5'1, 115lbs, shoulder-length brown wavy hair with bright sky-blue eyes that clouded over when she was angry or sad. She was a size 6 waist that sometimes was size 8 if she was PMS'ing. "Nothing fancy with this 25 year old." She said to herself as she climbed in the shower.

As the water rained down upon her, she realized that it wasn't just her birthday, it was his also.

He being the only man she had ever loved. The man who started out as a playmate and a bodyguard, who grew into a best friend and became her first boyfriend, her first love and her first lover. His family had taken her under their wing as if she was one of their own. Unfortunately he was also the first man to not only brake her heart but completely shatter her hopes and dreams.

Juliana sighed and shook her head. She had moved on with her life, but their friendship couldn't be salvaged. She hadn't heard from him since the day that they went separate ways a few years ago, yet she still lived in their hometown and was very close to his family. She just didn't know if he knew she was still close with them.

She thought about how much her life had changed without him. She wound up in a horribly abusive relationship that mirrored her childhood too much for comfort and she finally was able to end it. But since then, she had built a wall around her heart that no one could break through. At this point she was just too scared to let her guard down. And now here she was, 25 years old with a great job, a nice apartment, she was financially stable, and she had an old cat named Boots. She had no husband, no boyfriend, no kids and a funeral to go to in 2 days for the last person in her family that she would be attending alone because her best friend would be out of town.

Juliana quickly washed her hair and shaved her legs. "Enough depressing thoughts Juliana, it's time for some fun!"

Juliana walked out of the bathroom in her robe and sure enough there was Nikki digging through her closet. "Didn't take you long" Juliana commented.

"Nope, I was awake and ready." Nikki replied with a smile. "Here, I found you a great outfit to wear. We have a great day ahead of us and I'm not telling you a thing about it!"

Juliana looked, and she had chosen a great pair of blue jeans with a cute, red and white halter-top and a jean jacket to wear over it. Juliana picked out her favorite pair of black cowgirl boots to wear with it and she was dressed in no time.

She started to walk into the bathroom to do her hair when Nikki stopped her. "Don't do anything too fancy, I made us appointments later today for when we go out tonight."

"When we go out tonight? Where are we going?" Juliana asked confused.

"You'll see." Nikki replied with a knowing laugh.

Juliana quickly blow-dried her hair, threw it up in a clip and did some light make up and came out of the bathroom. "Alright girl, let's go."

Nikki smiled, "Let's go!"

Juliana grabbed her sunglasses and her keys as they left. Together they headed out to Nikki's car and took off.

**Meanwhile**…

Randy walked into his parent's house with his buddy John Cena. "Thanks for letting me crash here with you." John said quietly. It didn't look like anyone was awake yet at the house."

"Dude, no problem. I always stay here when we're in town." Randy replied. "And this way we're here till Monday morning."

"Well thank you." John repeated.

"Let's bring our stuff upstairs to my room to get it out of the way, then we can find out from dad which guest room is ready for you." Randy said showing John the way. "I'm going to hit the bathroom."

John got to Randy's bedroom and was looking around. There was a whole wall dedicated to pictures of his friends and family. While Randy went to the bathroom, John studied the pictures. A lot of the pictures were of the same group of friends, and predominantly of him and a very pretty brunette.

Randy walked in and seen John looking at the pictures. "Most of those are from elementary through high school."

"I can tell. Dude, who's the hot brunette you were always with." John said playfully.

Randy took a deep breath and ran his hand through his hair. "That was Jules."

"Ok, keep going." John prodded.

"You don't want to hear this. Let's go downstairs and get something to eat." Randy said trying to change the subject but John wouldn't hear it.

"Nah dude, tell me about her." John bugged.

" I'll give you the short version. There's too many details to tell. We met each other in kindergarten and stayed friends through school and a little beyond. We even have the same birthday. She had a real fucked up childhood, her father blamed her for her mother's death because she died during childbirth. He dropped her off to live with his mom and dad till she was 4 years old, then his dad died and he took her to live with him. He was abusive to her physically and mentally. So I took it upon myself to be her bodyguard at school when kids would try and make fun of her, and my family looked out for her because my dad knew her dad. When she was 14, her dad was in a serious accident, and he died. So her grandma moved to St Louis and took over as her guardian. We dated all through jr high and high school, and for a little while after, but I fucked it up and I haven't heard from her since."

"What did you do?" John asked.

Randy sighed, "I cheated on her when I was in the marines. Then I came home and I had a big ego and started bossing her around. I totally manipulated her then we got into a really big fight when I told her that she needed to quit school and move with me to Louisville. She began crying telling me that she couldn't move because she was still in school and she was late for her period. She hadn't tested yet because she was too scared to tell me. I hit the roof, I wasn't ready to be a parent and I let her know. I screamed at her at the top of my lungs that she was being selfish and she was just trying to hold me back. That I was not ready to be a father and that if she was then we needed to take care of it. She cried and begged for me to not be mad at her, she was on birth control and she didn't know what happened. So I yelled at her that when I fucked Cindy there wasn't a problem. And there sure as hell wasn't a problem the night your dad tried to rape you when you were 13. And then there was silence. I went way too far mentioning the abuse from her father, and it was the first time she ever knew I was unfaithful. She got up and started her grabbing her stuff and it was the first time she ever took a stand for herself. For as long as I had been an asshole to her, she always just took it. This time she lashed out and she let me have it. She screamed back at me, "Fuck you Randy, we're through. I don't care what happens from here on out, but I'll never be in your life. I'm tired of dealing with your bullshit." I tried to apologize but she wouldn't hear it. She told me that she had put up with my shit for long enough, and she wasn't going to take it anymore. And as soon as her bag was packed, she headed back to her grandma's and I left for Louisville and we never spoke again."

"Wow dude, that was harsh. So was she pregnant? Do you ever talk to her?" John asked intrigued.

"I don't know. I doubt it because I'm sure my mom would have told me, but I don't think so. We haven't spoken since October 17th, 1999. Not a word, and nor have I asked my mom and dad about her. I know that she had left St Louis, but I don't know where she is now. We have a mutual friend and she doesn't speak to me about her and I doubt that Nikki tells Jules anything about me."

"So who's funeral are you going to on Saturday?" John asked.

"Jules's grandma. I shouldn't, but I feel like I should. I mean, for 7 years she treated me just like one of her own grandchildren. I loved her as much as I loved my grandparents. So I feel like I should go or Nana would never forgive me. It's bad enough I broke Jules's heart, I can't do this too."

"Dude, it's your 25th birthday, maybe you should call her." John suggested.

Randy shook his head, "No, I'm not calling her. I don't even know where she is. Tonight you can meet Nikki, she's coming to the show. But I'm not going to track her down. I ruined that and there's nothing more to say. Now let's go get some breakfast."

And with that Randy got up and started walking downstairs. John got up and followed silently. He couldn't help but wonder if there was more feelings tied up in Randy over this Jules chick than Randy would let on.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Well, there's the first chapter. It kind of gives you some insight as to the past and now we can plug away to the present. Please read and review! I love to hear what you think and what you want to see.

Thanks!!!


	2. Chapter 2

Thank you to Matty1 for being my first review! I appreciate it!

Randy walked into the kitchen and found his mom and dad in the kitchen. "Good morning mom, good morning dad." Randy said giving them each a hug. "Mom, this is John, John this is my mom Elaine, and John you've met my dad Bob."

John smiled and shook their hands, "Good morning, thanks for letting me stay here with Randy."

"No problem, you have to make sure that you have a good place to sleep the night leading up to Wrestlemania." Bob said with a smile.

"Happy birthday Randy." Elaine said giving Randy another hug. "Your dad and I thought you boys would like to go to your favorite café for your birthday breakfast."

Randy smiled, "That sounds great."

"Good, let's go." Elaine said grabbing her purse.

Bob ushered the boys out to the car and they headed off.

Nikki and Juliana headed to their favorite café for breakfast. They went to their favorite table and sat down. There they enjoyed their favorite breakfast treat, Belgian waffles with strawberries and whip cream and they had a few cups of coffee.

"Ok, from here we are going to head to the Mall and do a little shopping." Nikki said happily.

"Before we do anything, I have to go to the bathroom." Juliana said with a giggle. "The coffee is already kicking in." And she got up and headed to the restroom while Nikki paid the bill.

Nikki turned to leave when she seen her friend, and Juliana's ex-boyfriend Randy walk in with his parents and a very hot guy. Nikki smiled, "Well, welcome home and happy birthday!"

Randy smiled and gave her a hug, "Thanks Nikki. What are you doing here?"

"Just got done having breakfast, on the way to a girls day out. Then headed to the spa to be ready for a girls night out." She replied with a smile. She loved having him as a friend, so she avoided any mention of Juliana at all costs. She remembered how horrible it was on both of them when they broke up. "Good morning Bob and Elaine. And Randy, who's your friend?"

Randy turned, "Nikki, this is John. John, this is Nikki. You'll meet her again tonight at the show."

Nikki smiled and shook John's hand, "It's nice to meet you."

John smiled back, "You too."

"Boys, they're ready to seat us." Bob said grabbing their attention.

"Hey, I'll see you guys tonight." Nikki replied with a smile and a wave. "See ya. Happy birthday!"

"Thanks! See ya later." Randy replied. His parents waved and John waved as Nikki walked out to the car and they were seated.

A couple minutes later, Juliana came out to the car. "Alright girl, let's go."

"Did you see anyone in the café you recognized?" Nikki asked cautiously.

Juliana shook her head, "Nope, but I really didn't look. Why who was there?"

"Oh, uh just Elaine and Bob." Nikki replied.

"Damn, I haven't talked to them in awhile. Oh well, I'll see them later." Juliana replied putting her sunglasses on. "Let's do some shopping!"

"Now you're talking!" Nikki replied.

The girls hit the mall. They bought some new clothes, they had lunch out there, and then they headed for the spa. "Nikki, you're spoiling me. Now what are we doing tonight?"

"Um, let me see if I've changed my mind….nope, I'm still not telling you. It's a surprise! You only turn 25 once, and you spoiled me on my birthday, now it's my turn to spoil you. What do you want for your birthday?" Nikki asked.

"Honestly at this point nothing. I'm settled in my apartment, Nana passed away, there's not a whole lot more that can go "wrong" so maybe this year things could go right. That's what I want for my birthday a year of things going right." Juliana replied with a smile.

Nikki laughed, "Now you know, life can't always go right, but maybe we can kick off a bunch of things going right tonight."

"Why, what's going on tonight?" Juliana asked curiously.

"Well, we're headed to the spa for a full-body massage, facial, and a manicure/pedicure. Then we're going to use the VIP tickets I have to a special event and we're going to have a blast. Then if you still have energy left, maybe we'll go out for a few drinks and then call it a night since tomorrow you have the funeral and I have a plane to catch tomorrow morning." Nikki replied.

"What kind of VIP tickets did you get? I don't know of any special events going on in town." Juliana replied.

Nikki laughed, "Your loss!"

They pulled into the parking lot of the spa and headed in.

**LATER THAT DAY**

The girls finished with their pampering at the spa, and there they changed into their "going out on the town clothes" and hopped into Nikki's car. "We're going to eat there, it'll be part of the fun!"

Juliana laughed, "Ok, you have to tell me, where are we going?"

"You'll see when we get there." Nikki replied with a laugh.

Before they knew it, they were pulling in to the parking lot for the arena where the WWE house show leading up to Wrestlemania was taking place. "What are we doing here?" Juliana asked cautiously. She knew that her ex Randy was a professional wrestler with the WWE and that being a hometown boy, he would be wrestling or at least appearing at tonight's show.

Nikki parked the car and dug in her purse and pulled out two VIP passes. She handed one to Juliana "Wear this around your neck. This will get us everywhere we want to go."

"Good, because I don't want to go in there." Juliana replied. "What are you trying to do? I don't want to see him."

"Juliana, we're going to be in a huge crowd of people, I highly doubt you're going to have any personal interaction with him." Nikki replied. "Besides, you haven't been to a wrestling show since the last time you and Randy went to one. I know you still read up on the WWE, I've seen it on your computer. You've checked out Randy's profile, maybe now you can at least become acquaintances, I mean you have been practically adopted by his family."

"I know Nikki, it's just…it's him. I don't know if you fully understand…"Juliana began explaining when Nikki cut her off.

"No sweetie, I understand completely, the love of your life turned into an asshole, fucked up your relationship, you walked out and you not only lost the one man you've ever loved, the one who taught you what love was, but also your best friend. Now you don't trust anyone after Steve, and you can't help but wonder what life would be like now. And you miss having him as a friend because above all, he was your big brother, he was there to save you when no one else was. So yes, I totally understand. And now you guys are 25 years old, why not try to see if you can't at least salvage a friendship out of it?"

Juliana sat there, no one had ever thrown that in her face. She sighed, "Alright, fine. It would be kind of fun."

Nikki smiled, "Now that's more like it!"

Juliana faked a smile as she got her purse together. She hadn't felt this nervous in a long, long time.

They got out of the car and headed towards the arena.

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I know that this chapter was kind of a filler chapter, but the best is yet to come, I promise!! Please read and review!


	3. Chapter 3

Thank you so much to Princess Mel for the great review! I really appreciate it!

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Nikki and Juliana got in the arena and decided to head backstage since they were early. Randy had told Nikki that with it being a house show, it's not as hectic and they could go ahead and visit before the show. They showed the security guards they're VIP passes and walked backstage. Juliana smiled when she seen Bob Orton visiting with someone.

Nikki nudged Juliana, "I double-dog dare you to knock on Randy's door and say "Happy Birthday" and see what he says.

Juliana shook her head, "No way. I haven't spoken to him in over 5 years and you want me to do that?!? Are you nuts?"

"No, I just think it would be a good ice breaker for the two of you." Nikki replied. "Therefore, I double-dog dare you."

"Don't dare me, I just might surprise you. It is my 25th birthday after all." Juliana replied.

"If you do it, I'll…buy your food and drinks for the rest of the night." Nikki replied with a smile.

Juliana rolled her eyes, "Alright deal. But if he slams the door in my face, you're going to owe me more than that. How do you know that he even wants to see me?"

"Trust me, I know." Nikki said smiling.

"Hey, how did you get these passes?" Juliana asked.

"Randy." Nikki replied shyly.

Juliana shook her head and walked down the corridor. Her hands were shaking, she had never been so nervous in her life. She had been doing everything she could to avoid him like the plague, and now here she is answering some stupid bet when she was scared to death that one look at him would send her back to the Juliana she used to be.

She found the dressing room door and took a deep breath. "I can do this, this shouldn't be a big deal. Good God we dated for how many years? We were friends for how many years? I can do this." She said to herself.

"Just knock on the door Juliana, we're not getting any younger." Nikki teased.

"Shut up." Juliana playfully snarled.

Juliana took another breath and knocked on the door to the locker room. The door opened and her eyes opened wide. Edge had answered the door. She wasn't prepared for a wrestler she didn't know. "Um, hi. Is Randy available?" She asked in her most professional voice.

Edge smirked, "Sure, I'll get him." He turned around, "Randy, you have a…" then he cleared his throat."Visitor here to see you."

Randy laughed, "Thanks Adam, tell her I'll be right there."

Adam/Edge turned back to Juliana, "He'll be right here." And he shut the door.

Juliana exhaled, "That wasn't so bad." She thought to herself.

Soon the door whipped open and there was Randy. He looked at Juliana and his whole face turned from a smile to a very shocked appearance. "Jules? Is that really you? What are you doing here?" He asked in a surprised tone. He couldn't believe it. She was standing there in front of her. The only woman he had ever truly loved. The precious flower that he had fallen in love with had grown into a beautiful young woman. He couldn't believe how amazing she looked. He always considered her his prayer when he found himself at a desperate hour. He had spend the day pouring his heart out to John that he would give anything if he could just see her, talk to her and tell her how sorry he was for what he had done to her. Which was completely unlike Randy. He had become a very egotistical, cocky, arrogant, god's gift to women type of guy because he didn't want to allow himself to feel again.

Juliana blushed, she hadn't been called Jules since the night she left him. The memories came rushing back to her. She nodded, "I'm sorry to bother you. It's just thought that I would come and tell you happy birthday since it is our 25th birthday today."

"You're not bothering me. I just didn't think I'd see you here." Randy replied.

Juliana smiled as best as she could. "Well, Nikki surprised me by bringing me here and here I am. I just thought that I would wish you a happy birthday and tell you good luck and I'll see you later."

Randy held out his arm, "Wait, can we talk a little? I mean, it's been a long time."

Juliana smiled, "Well, I can't leave Nikki hanging." And she gestured to where Nikki was standing there smiling at the two of them.

"Nikster, can you give us some time?" Randy said to her.

Nikki nodded, "You got it. Take your time, Juliana, the back of your pass has your seat number on it. See ya out there!" And Nikki walked off smirking to herself. Maybe her plan would work.

Juliana laughed, "Boy that wasn't hard."

Randy shook his head, "Nope, sure wasn't. Do you drink coffee still, we can grab some in the green room?"

"Some things will never change." Juliana replied.

"Unlike your name. When did you start going by your full name?" Randy asked. "I'm always going to call you Jules."

"That changed a few years back." Juliana replied. She didn't want to say that the reason why was because Randy always called her Jules and she didn't want to be reminded of him. "So, it looks like you're doing really good for yourself out here." She said changing the subject as they walked to the green room.

Randy nodded, "Yeah, it's been great. I've had a few injuries, but I'm doing pretty good. Why, have you been keeping up?"

"Well, I've always watched, and I didn't stop watching. But I check online from time to time for more information." Juliana replied.

They got to the green room and John Cena and Dave Batista were in there. "Jules, I want you to meet some friends of mine." He walked her over to them, "Guys, I want you to Jules, Jules this is John and Dave."

Juliana smiled, "Hi, it's nice to meet you." And she shook their hands. She felt so little around them. And normally when her and Randy used to go to shows with his dad, the wrestlers never intimidated her because she was with Randy, but now she felt very intimidated.

John looked at her and then at Randy, he recognized her from the pictures on Randy's wall. "We'll umm…give you guys some time to catch up. Come on Dave, let's head out."

Dave nodded, "Alright. Nice meeting you." Dave said to Juliana. "Enjoy the show."

She smiled, "Thanks, good luck tonight!"

Randy poured them some coffee, "Still take cream and sugar?"

"Yes please."

Randy brought it over to a table where they sat down. "Look Jules, I have so much to say to you. But I don't really want to get into it all here where it's not very private." Randy started to say when Juliana rose her hand.

"Randy, I didn't come here for any of that. I don't want to hear it. It's in the past, we've both moved on and now we're all grown up. Let's just catch up and move on." Juliana replied in a stern tone.

"Jules, you don't understand, I have to talk to you about it sometime." Randy replied.

"Well, sometime is not now. How have you been?" Juliana replied changing the subject.

"I've been good. Just wrestling. What about you? How are you doing? What's been going on?" Randy asked.

"Well, I finished college, I got my marketing and public relations degree. I am currently doing the PR for your mom's hospital and I have my application out to a few different places. I had left St. Louis after I graduated for a PR job with a firm out in Minnesota, but then Nana got sick, and I moved back. She passed away and now I'm seeing what's out there." Juliana replied. "I have an apartment here in the city, and I have a cat."

"No husband?" Randy questioned. "No kids?"

"Is that why you wanted to sit down and catch up on old times? To see if I was pregnant?" Juliana shot back. She jumped up out of her seat. "That's what this was wasn't it. Nikki knew that if she brought me here, you could ask me about it yourself because she won't tell you anything."

Randy jumped up, "No Jules, it's nothing like that. Calm down, we're just talking. That's something I figured you would have told me by now."

As Juliana was about to reply there was a knock, "Randy, you're needed."

"I'll be right there." Randy replied. He turned his attention to Juliana, "Jules, hon, I wasn't trying anything like that. I was trying to find out about you. How you're doing. I wasn't pulling a fast one on you, I promise."

Juliana put her head down, "I'm sorry. It's just that was the first thing."

Randy pulled Jules into his arms and held her, "It's ok. But if you want to tell me anything, you can."

Juliana nodded. "I miscarried. When I was 4 months along. You were so adamant on not wanting to be a parent, I didn't bother calling you. I figured you didn't care and that was when I made the decision to move out of St. Louis as soon as I graduated, and I did."

Randy was stunned. He couldn't believe what he had just heard. She was right, when she left, he had made it adamant that he did not want to be a parent, but to know that she was pregnant and had lost the baby, made him feel horrible. Just as he was about to say something, there was another knock, "Randy, now. You can see her after the show."

Juliana grabbed her purse and started heading towards the door. "It was good seeing you Randy. Have a great show, and I hope that you have a happy birthday."

"Jules wait, can we grab something to eat later?" Randy asked. He didn't want to let her go now. He never realized just how much he missed her, and he had so much to say to her. "I still need to talk to you."

"I can't. Nikki has plans for us after the show, and I can't be out all night. I have a busy day tomorrow. Look, the past is the past. We've moved on. Good luck tonight." And she turned and walked towards the exit.

Randy wanted to go after her, but he knew he had to get to where he needed to go. He kicked the wall and headed off.

Juliana got out by Nikki. "Thanks a lot. That was the worst bet ever." Juliana grumbled as she sat down.

"I got you a Coke, hot dog, and nachos. Why was it so horrible?" Nikki replied.

"Because, I can't talk to him. Then he wanted to know what I've been up to and he asked me if I had a husband or kids and I lost it on him. I flipped out saying that the only reason he was talking to me was to see if I had indeed had one of his kids." Juliana replied.

Nikki put her head in her hands, "Oh no. What did he say?"

"He looked horrified. He took my hand and looked me in the eyes and said that was not what he meant. He was trying to find out what all had been going on. He figured I would tell him something like that." Juliana replied. "And then he added that I could tell him anything, so I told him that I had miscarried when I was 4 months along and so no there was no baby. Then he looked stunned and I think he was speechless but it was time for him to go, so here I am. He asked if he could see me later, but I told him that you had plans for us and that I can't have a late night because I have a busy day tomorrow."

Nikki hugged her. "Yes, he thinks he's God's gift to women, yes he can be egotistical at times, or most of the time, but when it comes down to it, he's still a teddy bear. And I think that you're still his special girl."

Juliana shot Nikki a dirty look, "Don't even talk like that, I don't want to hear it. This is not going to turn into matchmaking anything. I haven't been his special anything for a long time, and it's going to stay that way."

"You can keep telling yourself that, but it's not going to make it true. And besides, I know that flame is still there within you." Nikki replied. "Now eat your hot dog before it gets cold."

Juliana shook her head and took Nikki's advice. But now her head was spinning a mile a minute with thoughts and questions all centering around Randy.

Nikki decided to play it safe and not tell Juliana that their plans later included Randy and his friend John.

Soon the lights went out and the show began.

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Oh boy, things are starting to heat up. What do you think could possibly happen? Please continue to read and review!


	4. Chapter 4

Thank you so much for the great reviews!! I'm at home so I don't have your names with me, but I really appreciate it. Thanks for being patient, here's the new chapter and the updates will be much more frequent."

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Nikki and Juliana had ringside seats, and their view was incredible. They loved every action-packed minute. Juliana remembered why she loved house shows more, it was because of how much more interaction the wrestlers could have with the audience and how much more enjoyable that made it.

When John Cena had his match, he winked at Nikki and gave Juliana a high five as he walked by. Nikki smiled, "God that man is hot."

Juliana looked at her, "Gee, why don't you talk to Randy and have him give John your phone number."

Nikki blushed, "Shut up!" The girls giggled and had a good time throughout the show.

Finally it was Randy's turn in the ring. Juliana couldn't help it, she felt herself heat up as his music hit. To watch all of these people go crazy for him, she couldn't help but beam with pride. It was exactly what he had always dreamed of. No matter whether he was a heel or a face, he had a way with the crowd. "And a way with the ladies." She reminded herself. There were tons of signs in the audience wishing him a happy birthday.

"Isn't this great? Watching the fans reaction to him?" Nikki asked Juliana.

"Yeah, I'm really happy for him." Juliana replied. Trying not to let on that deep inside of her, she felt herself thinking about him in ways she shouldn't. Especially when he was doing his poses inside of the ring.

Randy cut a promo and then the match started. Juliana watched as Randy did what he did best. He did a great job, and walked away the winner of the match. Juliana smirked to herself, "Of course they're going to have the hometown boy win."

Nikki turned to her, "Wasn't that great?!?"

Juliana smiled, "Yeah, it has been way too long since I've been to a show."

"I think he still likes you." Nikki said gathering their stuff.

"I think you think too much. Besides, that was the past. He's changed, I've changed, life has changed." Juliana replied. "And I thought I told you that we're not going to talk about it."

After walking out towards the lobby, Juliana excused herself to the bathroom. When she walked out of the bathroom she found Nikki on the phone.

"Yup, we'll be there shortly. Ok, ok, yes I know. Bye." Nikki said hanging up.

"Who were you talking to?" Juliana asked.

"Just making sure our after-show reservations would still be honored since we're running late." Nikki replied non-chalantly. "Let's go."

Juliana shook her head. "Now what are we doing?"

"You'll see." Nikki replied.

The girls arrived in the parking lot of the local bar. "Oh my god, you're not serious are you?" Juliana asked Nikki. "I haven't been here in ages!"

"You'd better believe it! Let's go!" Nikki replied excitedly.

As they walked in the door, Juliana recognized many faces and shook her head. So many memories were from this place.

"Why don't you look and see who I see sitting over there by their lonesome?" Nikki replied.

Juliana looked around, and sure enough there was Randy and John. "I need a really strong drink." Juliana replied.

"Coming right up!" Nikki replied.

"That's right, you owe me!" Juliana shouted as Nikki headed towards the bar. John waved her over to their table and she made her way over there.

"Look, it's the birthday girl and the birthday boy!" John said loudly.

Juliana shook her head trying not to blush. "Hi John."

"I think the birthday pair needs to sing a song!" Nikki said setting down a round of shots for the table and an extra drink for Juliana. "It's karaoke night."

"A toast, to the birthday pair. Here's to the next 25 years of your life!" John said as he raised his glass.

Everybody else raised their glasses, clinked them and drank.

"Ok guys, I think it's time the birthday pair go a little Nikki…" Nikki said setting her glass down. "Randy, John here wants to see the high school days, we want to see Paradise."

Juliana started her second drink hoping no one would notice her. Randy looked over at her, "Well, should we put our names on the list?"

Juliana took a deep breath, she hadn't even allowed herself to listen to this song since her and Randy broke up. It used to be their song. They would sing karaoke to it and act it out just the way the singer did. " Sure, I guess so." And she took another drink with thousands of thoughts running through her head.

Randy got up and walked over to her, "Come with me." And he held out his hand.

She took another drink and took his hand. They walked together over to the sign-up area.

Nikki and John all cheered them on. John sat there watching and trying to catch up on everything. The whole way to the bar, all Randy did was talk about Juliana to John. Randy wanted to make everything right with her, but Juliana seemed to be trying to keep her distance from him. But, John wasn't blind. He could tell that everybody was trying to re-fix them up.

Randy signed them up and looked at Juliana, "Let's go to the rehearsal rooms and talk."

"Randy, I told you, there is nothing to talk about." Juliana protested, but Randy insisted.

"Jules, yeah there is. And damn it you're going to hear me out. Whether you listen or not I can't control, but you're going to at least hear me." Randy replied as he held her hand and walked her to an empty room.

Juliana rolled her eyes, but yet she still found herself holding his hand and walking with him. Part of her was curious as to just what he had to say, but yet the other half of her wanted to run far, far away. Away from him, away from Nikki who was being way too pushy about this "reunion" with Randy.

Randy turned on the light and the two walked in and Randy shut the door behind them. "Now please, hear me out. Jules, I don't think you understand the whole picture of what happened between us."

Juliana shot him an evil look, "You don't think I understand? How could I possibly not understand? You cheated on me, never told me about it. Meanwhile, you completely wanted or should I say needed control of me once you came back from the Marines, then you try to demand me to quit school so I can move with you to Kentucky and when I tell you that I'm late you blew up at me. You finally tell me you cheated on me, you bring up my father and you blame me for the fact that I was late." She lashed out with tears brewing in her eyes. "And yet my best friend blames me for walking out that night."

Randy interrupted her, "Jules stop, let me talk. You're right, I came back totally different. All I cared about was myself. I didn't let you blossom, I didn't let you grow, I sheltered you, I contained you and yes I cheated on you. I should have told you the truth, and I never should have used your father against you. God Jules, I am so sorry. That was a line I never should have crossed. I shouldn't have demanded anything out of you and when you told me you were late, I should have acted like a man but I didn't. And look at what I lost. I lost the best thing I've ever had. Jules, not a day goes by when I don't think about you. When I don't wonder "What if" but I can't change the past. I'm so sorry that I hurt you. I can't go back and fix things, all I can do is show you that I've changed."

Juliana interrupted, "What do you mean show me that you've changed?"

"Jules, I want us to be friends again. You used to be my best friend. I miss having you in my life. I want us to be able to be friends again." Randy said holding her hand. "I want you to tell me about everything that I've missed out on in your life, and I'll tell you about mine. Even if there are some things that I'm not proud of. I want us to be friends that are honest with each other."

Juliana had tears falling down her cheeks. Randy leaned in and kissed her cheek. "Please trust me on this one. I want us to be there for each other."

"I needed you to be there for me before, and you couldn't do that. You wouldn't do that." Juliana started to protest, but Randy interrupted her.

"Give me this chance to make it up to you. I can't show you I've changed if we don't talk. Please, I'll come home on my days off, we can hang out and do stuff and you'll see. It'll be great, I promise."

"Randy, you're talking like we're going to get back together. That will not happen." Juliana replied standing up. "I can handle friends, but it's going to be slow. We both have our own lives that we live. But answer me something, why is this just coming out now? Why didn't you ever try to call me if you really wanted something to work out between us?

Randy sighed, "Stupidity, ego, being afraid that you wouldn't pick up the phone. I'm not in town that much and when I am it's over the holidays and I didn't want to barge in on your time with Nana. I'm sorry I haven't tried to contact you. John is the only person that knows anything about you and about us because I was too afraid to say how I was feeling out loud."

Juliana nodded. "Now let's get back out there before Nikki tells John what we used to do before we did this song. "

Randy laughed and gave her a hug. Alright, let's go."

As Randy and Juliana walked back to the table, John was buying another round of shots. She noticed that now there were more wrestlers at the table. "You didn't tell me that you had more friends coming." Juliana said to Randy.

"I didn't know there were more friends coming." Randy replied.

Juliana laughed and found an open chair between John and Randy, "You guys, I can't be out drinking all night, I have somewhere to be in the morning."

"One more shot, then drink soda." Batista replied. "I haven't seen you drinking yet."

"That's not my fault, you should have been here earlier." Juliana replied laughing.

"Watch out, she can be sassy." Nikki said with a smile.

Randy sat down by John, "How're you doing?"

"Fine, I'm having a good time watching these people sing, and I can't wait till I can watch you and Jules go up there." John replied.

"Bottoms up everyone!" Charlie Haas shouted.

Everyone took their shot and John looked over at Randy. "I'm going to ask Nikki to dance." And he got up and walked over to Nikki, "Would you like to dance?"

Nikki smiled and held her hand out, "I would love to."

And the two made their way to the dance floor.

Charlie got up to go hit on some girls, and Dave started talking on his phone, so there sat Randy and Juliana. "Would you like to dance?" Randy asked Juliana.

Juliana smiled, "Sure."

And the two headed out to the dance floor to join their friends. As the two made their way out to the dance floor, the next person doing karaoke was singing a slow song, so Randy took Juliana into his arms, and they began to slow dance. Juliana never let her head rest upon his chest, she just couldn't allow herself to slip that much. She couldn't let herself feel anything for him.

Randy let his head rest gently atop hers. She could feel him breathe, and she could smell his cologne, and it was enough to drive her over the edge. But she stayed strong, she was not going to let the walls down.

"Feels like old times, doesn't it?" Randy said softly.

"Yeah, yeah it does." Juliana replied quietly. She hated to admit it.

Randy nodded. As if he knew what she was thinking. The song ended, they called out Randy and Juliana's name. "Speaking of the past, when was the last time we did this?"

Juliana giggled, "The night before we got into our big fight. We went out to celebrate that you were accepted to OVW and had a few drinks and we sang our song."

As the group headed back to the table to watch, John asked, "What's with this Paradise thing?"

Nikki burst into laughter, "Well, Juliana loves country music, Randy loves heavy metal and doesn't listen to a lot of country music. But, the one artist that they both liked was Meat Loaf. And he has a duet called "Paradise By the Dashboard Light." So, whenever we would do karaoke, that's their song. And they would go to Meat Loaf's concerts, and at the show, Meat Loaf makes out with his back-up singer during the play by play. So Randy and Juliana do that." Nikki explained. "It's a riot!"

Randy did another shot as they walked on stage. He looked at Juliana, "Ready?"

"Yup." Juliana said turning her mike on. She said a silent prayer as she took her position.

Randy cued the karaoke guy to start the music and soon the song started.

John was so glad that he carried his new hand-held camcorder everywhere they went. He was filming the entire thing.

As the song got to the play-by-play, Randy took Juliana into his arms and he whispered to her, "Are you ready?"

Juliana nodded, she looked into his blue eyes, and before she knew it, her eyes closed and the two were kissing. Soon just nice kissing turned into french kissing. Randy began to slide his hand up the front of her shirt and she brushed it away just the way it's done by the real artist. Randy would act like he was trying to go farther and she would push him away, then they would kiss more, and she'd back him off. Finally, the play by play got to the "Holy cow I think he's going to make it!" And Juliana pushed him away with all of her might, "STOP right there….I've gotta know right now. Before we go any further do you love me, will you love me forever, do you need me, will you never leave me, will you make me so happy for the rest of my life, will you take me away and will you make me your wife?" And she wagged her left ring finger at him. She sang it with such emotion it was true as true could be.

Randy sang back, "Let me sleep on it…let me sleep on it, I'll give you an answer in the morning."

The two finished out the song just as great as if it was Meat Loaf singing it himself. The bar went nuts! John was so glad that the he had the whole thing on tape.

Juliana walked over to the table, "Alright, I have to get heading home. Thanks for the wonderful birthday. Nikki," She said giving her a hug. "I'll grab a cab so ya'll can party some more."

"Jules, I can give you a ride home if you'd like." Randy insisted. "That way you don't have to worry about a cab."

"I can take a cab, it's not a big deal. Nikki and I do this all the time." Juliana replied, "It's not a big deal."

"John, are you ok hanging out with Nikki till I get back?" Randy asked John.

"Yeah, I think I can handle that." John replied with a smile.

"Cool, let's go." Randy said helping Juliana with her coat.

Juliana went and gave Nikki a hug, "Have fun on your trip. Be safe." Then she hugged her tighter and whispered in her ear, "Don't have too much fun with John."

Nikki smiled, "I won't do anything you wouldn't do."

"That doesn't make me feel better." Juliana replied. "It was great seeing you all, have a great night." She said as she waved good bye.

Randy walked her out to his car, "Here we go."

"I have to grab some stuff out of Nikki's car, I'll be right back. But nice car." Juliana said walking over to Nikki's car and grabbing her stuff.

"You have keys to her car?" Randy asked.

"I have keys to her house and her car, and she has the keys to my house and my car." Juliana replied. She loaded the stuff into his backseat and climbed in.

Randy climbed in and they began driving. "So, how do I get there?"

Juliana gave him directions and buckled her seat belt. She knew she was in for an interesting ride.

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Well, I want to know what you guys think. Do you like the story, where do you think you see this going? I love the feedback! I'll be working on the next chapter this weekend. Please continue to read and review, and from here on out, the updates will be much more frequent. Thanks for your loyalty and have a great day!


	5. Chapter 5

Thank you so much for all of the great reviews!! I am so happy to see that you guys are enjoying this story as much as I am! Thank you to Amyvedamarie, Kayla80, gurl42069, cena's-lil-wifey, and Princess Mel for your support! I hope that you guys enjoy the new chapter!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Randy and Jules talked about their performance and how his wrestling career was going on the way to her place. He pulled in the driveway and put the car in park. "So, can I come up and talk for awhile?" Randy asked.

Juliana took a deep breath and looked at the clock, "Ok, but I have to get up early in the morning, so I can't be up too late."

They walked in and Juliana turned the lights on. "I just had the carpets done, would you mind taking off your shoes?" She asked slipping hers off.

"No problem. This is a really nice place." Randy replied.

"Thanks. I have a cat lurking around here somewhere, and he's really friendly, so don't mind him His name is Boots." Juliana said taking his jacket from him and hanging it up. "Come on in, can I get you something to drink?"

"Do you have any soda?" Randy asked looking around her living room.

"Yup, I'll grab you one." She said heading into her kitchen.

"Hey Jules, you have a message." Randy said seeing the light blink on her machine.

"Go ahead and push play, it's probably just Nikki." She said walking towards him with their sodas.

Randy pushed play, and there was a loud, harsh voice screaming "Ok you little bitch, you think you can run, you think you can hide, but you'll never be rid of me, NEVER. I'm coming for you, and I'll be all over you like an owl stalks his pray."

Quickly Juliana leaned across Randy and turned off her machine, "Uh…must have been a wrong number." She said sitting down, "So, how's your family?" She said trying to change the subject.

"Jules, what was that all about?" Randy asked concerned. "That wasn't a wrong number was it."

"It's nothing, he was probably just drinking and couldn't find himself a hooker for the night." She said praying he would just drop it.

"Jules, are you in danger? Who was that?" Randy asked.

"Why don't we just drop it and talk about something else?" Juliana offered.

"Jules, this is serious." Randy started to argue.

"Randy please, I'm not getting you involved. This isn't your fight. I'm the one that has to deal with it, not you." Juliana started to argue back but Randy interrupted.

"Jules, you don't have to deal with this alone. Who is this guy? What's going on?" Randy asked with a stern tone in his voice.

"Randy, this is none of your concern. I'm handling it, you don't have to worry about me." Juliana said standing up. "He's an ex of mine."

"What would make you date a guy like that?" Randy asked looking in her eyes.

"Well, I sure as hell didn't try to date a guy like that. He didn't start off like that, it just got worse and worse. Once I realized it, I knew I had to get out of there or it'd turn out just like my dad did and I wasn't going there again. So finally I took off. Now I've been dealing with this ever since." Juliana confessed. "But I don't need your help. I do not trust anyone with this except myself. I'll be just fine."

"Jules, do you have a restraining order against him?" Randy asked. He was getting a little concerned. He knew all of the hell that Juliana went through, not just with her abusive father, but after he was gone, she went through a big adjustment time where she wasn't very nice to herself. And he was the only one who was able to get through to her and help her. He didn't want her to go back to that place again.

"I went out and got a restraining order against him, and he put me in the hospital for over a week. So no, I never did renew it because I wasn't going through that again." She replied ashamed. She couldn't even look at him.

"Does Nikki know about this?" Randy asked softly. He could see she was starting to withdraw herself.

"No she doesn't know, and she doesn't need to know. She's not my guardian, I don't need to answer to her with everything. So don't go telling her." Juliana exploded.

Randy was a little taken aback, he knew that he hadn't been in her life for awhile, but her emotions were so sporadic, it reminded him of right before her father died when the abuse was reaching it's worse peak. He sat down by her and put his arm around her, "Jules, this isn't your fault. And you have people who care about you and who love you and want to help, but you have to let them help."

Jules turned and looked at him, she had tears streaming down her face. "Randy, you don't want to be here right now. You don't want to be here with me. I know you said you want to be friends and you want to show me you've changed, but after tonight you won't mean it. You'll go back out on the road with all of your friends and all of the divas, and the last thing you're going to want is to be a friend with someone like me. I'm damaged, I know that, and you know that. You know that better than anybody, even Nikki doesn't get it. Why don't you just go now?"

Randy was shocked, at first he didn't quite know what to say. Finally he cleared his throat, "Jules, I want you to listen to me, and I want you to listen good. I'm not going anywhere ever again. I want to be your friend, and god willing maybe one day I'll get to be even more to you again. I want you to listen to me." He said making sure he had eye contact with her. "I love you. I always have, even when I was stupid and made the worse decision of my life. But, I will always love you whether we're speaking or whether I never seen you again. My feelings for you have never changed."

Juliana stood up, "Just stop Randy, I don't want to hear it. You can sit here and say all these things, but you've never showed them. You know what? I can't do this right now, I can't have this talk right now. Just go home, ok? I have things to get ready for and you have a life to get back to. Just go home."

"Jules, I'm not trying to upset you, but I can see that he's still trying to control you. I don't think you're very safe right now. I think that you need some help." Randy tried to explain, but Juliana wasn't hearing it. Although it didn't seem like Juliana talking, it was like another person had taken over.

"Damnit Randy, I'm not saying it again. Just GO HOME!" And Juliana walked into her bedroom and slammed the door. She sunk down to the floor crying. She felt horrible, he was trying to be nice, but she couldn't get over her own self to let him in. She had built up her walls so high that she couldn't bring herself to break them down.

Randy stood there for a minute, he didn't know what to do. He knew she wanted him to go but yet she seemed so fragile, so delicate that he wasn't sure if he should leave. He was worried about that lunatic showing up. Plus, he could hear her sobbing on the other side of the door.

Just as he was about to go and tap on her door to make sure she'd be ok, the phone rang. He heard her pick up the phone. He tried to listen through the door, but he couldn't make out what she was saying.

Just as he was about to knock, he heard her yell, "JUST LEAVE ME THE HELL ALONE!" And he heard something crash against the wall. He didn't even knock, he opened the door and there she was on the floor sobbing. He looked across the room and there was her phone on the floor. "Jules, are you ok?" He said sitting down by her.

Juliana didn't hold back, she leaned on him and just let herself cry. She held him so close and he held her back and he just rocked her and let her cry.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Please read and review, more coming soon!! Thank you for reading!


	6. Chapter 6

A very big THANK YOU to Amyvedamarie and Princess Mel for your reviews. I really appreciate it!

Once Juliana could get herself to stop crying she got up and walked into the bathroom and closed the door. Randy got up off the floor and slightly tapped on it, "Jules, I know you're scared, I know you've been hurt, but don't lock yourself in there. I am going to be here for you." Just as he was about to go on, the toilet flushed and Juliana came out.

She looked slightly embarrassed and bit her bottom lip just a little and looked up into his eyes, "Um, I just had to go to the bathroom. I wasn't going to lock myself in there."

Randy put his head down and ran his hand through his hair, "Sorry." And he pulled her in his arms and held her close. "Now can we talk about this guy?"

Juliana nodded, "Yeah, we can. But only on one condition."

"What's that?"

Juliana looked embarrassed again, "I want to put on my pajamas and my slippers. Then I'll tell you everything."

"No prob,." Randy said noticing her picture wall. He smiled looking at them, it brought back such good memories. They were together in most of them. She even had up a picture of them with their friends at the bar the night before they broke up. He couldn't believe it.

She changed into her pajamas and walked up beside him, "Ready for this?"

He nodded, "I'm ready."

They walked out to the living room and sat down on the couch. "Well, I met Steve at college. First we were study buddies, then we became friends, and that's when things started going down hill. We were never even an official couple. He lost his job and couldn't afford the rent, so I let him move in with me. That was the biggest mistake. I went to school all day and worked well into the night. I would come home after working and Steve would be just trashed. He would look for reasons to rag on me. I would have better grades, or I worked later than I was supposed to, or I spent too much time watching tv on the moments I did have free. One night we got into a fight and I told him to pack his shit and get the hell out of my apartment or I would call the cops. Well, that didn't sit too well with him, because he beat me black, blue and bloody. After that night, the physical abuse became more frequent." Juliana explained. As she spoke, her eyes were wide open and every now and then she would shudder. This was like re-living it all over again for her, but she knew that Randy needed to know what she was dealing with.

Randy sat there holding her hand and just letting her talk. For him it was like a flashback to when they were younger and he would get her to open up and be honest about what her father used to do to her. He remembered every word from those conversations, he remembered the bruises, the cuts, the rope burns, the belt marks, and he was pretty sure that Jules was feeling the same way. He knew that he had to bite his tongue and not interrupt or she would stop telling him. She didn't open up very often, so when she did you had to take the opportunity.

"One night I had to go to work and I had a black eye, a swollen lip and really sore ribs. He had knocked me around and thrown me down the stairs trying to get me to leave the apartment because he had some other tramp over and I had left work early so I walked in on it. When I got to work, my employer told me that no waitress looking like me would keep business so he fired me. I got home and knew I had to tell him." Juliana stopped and took a deep breath, "I walked into our apartment and there he was with another woman. I got pissed and I threw my purse across the room at them, and I screamed at him, "If you can't get off your lazy ass to get a job, and help pay bills. But you can surely get off your ass to get laid, then it's time you go get laid somewhere else because we're through. Get the hell out of my life, grab your shit and get out of my apartment."

The chick started laughing at him and called him a loser. She grabbed her stuff and left. The minute the door shut behind her, he started after me. I locked myself in the bathroom and tried to pry open the window so I could run, but he broke through the door. He grabbed me and started to punch me and kick me screaming insults at me the whole time, he used my hair to slam me into the sink, he slammed me into the toilet, then he turned on the bathtub and he threw me in there. By this time I was going in and out of consciousness and I know that he raped me in the tub because when the police got there that's what he was doing. Some neighbor heard the commotion and called the police, and the police officers that responded came to see me in the hospital because they needed a statement to keep him. They told me that I should be damn thankful of whoever called the police because they probably saved my life. I pressed charges, but he was out on bail until his trial. He showed up the night before we appeared before the judge and told me that if I told of all of the past he would kill Nana. I couldn't put her into danger, so when we appeared before the judge I said it was the first time, and he did 30 days, had a year of probation and had to go to chemical dependency treatment and anger management. By the time he completed the inpatient program I had already graduated college and moved out of state."

"Was that the first time he had ever raped you?" Randy asked.

Juliana hung her head, the tears were flowing down her cheeks, "No, no it wasn't. That's the only way he got any. He would slap me around and then he'd drag me towards the bedroom and I knew what was coming."

Randy held her close. He could just kill him for what he put her through. He rubbed her back, and let her cry.

Juliana sat up, "When Nana got sick, I moved back here and rented this townhouse and got an unlisted phone number. I was trying to keep a low profile, but after I made the newspaper for being hired as the new marketing director for the hospital, he found me. I've been trying to hide from him ever since. He's shown up at my work before, and that's when I got a restraining order. A week later I was in intensive care. He told me that if I testified against him he would kill Nana and Nikki so I didn't say anything. He's been stalking me ever since." She looked Randy in the eyes, "I'm giving you the shortened version, I can't bring myself to tell you all of the details. He barely let me talk to Nana, I could only go see her if I didn't have any bruises on my face. He wouldn't let me have friends, so the only time I could talk to Nikki was at school or if I was at work. I was a prisoner in my own house all over again. It was like he was dad reincarnated and coming after me for ever trying to tell on him."

Randy was quiet for a few minutes, he held her close and thought very carefully about what he was going to say. He took Juliana's hand into his and looked into her eyes, "Jules, you're not safe here. You have to get out of here."

"Randy, I'm trying. I have my application in at a few different places, I can't make them review them any faster." Juliana reiterated. "But Nana died, I have her funeral tomorrow and he said that he's coming tomorrow to see me. I have to be there Randy, I can't not. And I don't have a restraining order, so the cops won't do anything."

"Jules, the whole reason I signed up for the house show here was because I knew she passed away. I was going to show up at the funeral and pray that you wouldn't hate me for being there. I loved her almost as much as you did. Will you please come back to mom and dad's, spend the night and I'll escort you to the funeral tomorrow? I don't want you here alone tonight." Randy said holding her hand tightly.

"Randy, I'm not going to burden you or your parents like that. Besides, you have company and you don't need me tagging along. I appreciate your offer, but I'll be ok." She tried to argue, but Randy wouldn't hear it.

"No, you're not pushing the offer away just like that, stay with me tonight, and we'll figure out what to do next after the funeral." Randy said standing up. "I'll help you pack an overnight bag. You can even stay in your jammies, I'll warm up the car."

Juliana laughed, "You know, for as much as you say you've changed, I'm glad that not everything about you has changed. Alright, no more arguing, I'll stay with you tonight." And they headed into her room.

What do you think will happen next? Will he show up at her house? At the funeral? Randy has Wrestlemania on Sunday, what then? Please continue to read and review!


	7. Chapter 7

(((HUGS))) THANK YOU SO MUCH for the wonderful reviews!!! At the end of the chapter, you'll find my little thank you note and apology note.

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Juliana and Randy packed up a few of their things, and they headed out to Randy's car. Along the way, she stopped and turned around and looked around the area.

"What's up? Did you forget something?" Randy asked.

"No, I just thought I felt a presence." Juliana replied.

Randy put his arm around her and gave her a hug, "Jules, you're safe with me. I won't let anything happen to you. Let's get out of here."

Juliana nodded and put her stuff in his car. They climbed in and headed to Randy's. Little did they know that yes they were being watched. "Little bitch thinks she can start running around as some little groupie whore to a hometown wrestler, boy does she have another thing coming." Steve grumbled as he started up the car. "She can't hide from me forever." And he headed home to finish his plan.

They arrived at Randy's a little after 1am and seen that there was still a light on. "Are your parents really still up?"

Randy shook his head, "Nah, they probably just left a light on for me. That or John's home and waiting."

Juliana couldn't help but smile as she looked at his house. It brought back so many memories. Good and bad, but mostly good. Randy caught her smiling, and he smiled too. He couldn't help but admit to himself how much he had missed her. He knew how badly he fucked up, and he wanted to make it up to her. And now was his chance to at least develop a friendship with her, and show her that he would be committed to her, if she would let him into her heart. Randy cleared his throat, "So, should we take a trip down memory lane and go inside?"

Juliana laughed, "Yeah, let's go."

They grabbed her stuff and quietly snuck into the house. They tiptoed past his parent's room just the way they used to do as teenagers and once they were in there they broke into laughter. She found herself burying her head into Randy's chest trying to muffle the laughter just like the old days and as much as she wanted to push him away, she just couldn't bring herself to do it.

"Wow, what's so funny?" John finally piped up.

They both jumped. "Dude, didn't see ya sitting there." Randy replied.

Juliana bit her bottom lip and turned many shades of red, "Sorry, I didn't see you there. I hope we didn't wake you."

John shook his head, "Nah, I just got in myself."

"Did you and Nikki hang out?" Randy asked while changing into some flannel lounge pants.

John laughed and nodded, "Yeah, we hung out. She's a great girl."

Juliana smiled, "Yeah, we've known each other since we were little." And she slipped into the bathroom to go and get ready for bed.

John peeked down the hall and waited for the bathroom door to close. Then he popped back in, "Dude, fill me in."

Randy shook his head, "I'll talk to you about it later. But trust me, she needs me right now."

"All I'm saying is that I know how badly you want her back." John started to say, but Randy interrupted.

"This has nothing to do with me wanting her back, this has to do with her life being in danger, and her trying to defend herself and all she winds up doing is getting more and more beat up. I'll talk to you about it tomorrow." Randy replied as he moved some stuff around in his room.

Just as John was about to say something, they heard the bathroom door open and soon she appeared in the doorway. "Ok, I hate to be a party pooper, but I have to be up early tomorrow, so I'm going to crash." Juliana said as she walked in. "Ya'll can stay up and talk, play video games or whatever, but I have to be up at 7am."

"Nah, we'll all hit the hay." John piped up, "No worries there, sleep is our friend."

Randy looked over towards Juliana, she was putting away her toothbrush and her hairbrush and bending down when Randy couldn't resist and watch her. John smirked at him, and Juliana stood up and turned around and asked, "Where am I sleeping?"

"Well, if you feel comfortable sleeping next to me, we can share my bed, otherwise, you and John can fight over the air mattress and the floor." Randy said, "I'm going to grab extra pillows." And he walked out to the hallway.

Juliana climbed in Randy's bed and scooted over by the wall. When Randy came back in he tossed a pillow to Jules and he turned on the light in the hallway and turned off the light in his room and crawled into bed.

"Dude, you left the light on." John said as everyone got situated in bed. "Don't get too comfy, he who turn light on, must turn light off." He said in his old Mr. Miagi voice.

Juliana bit her bottom lip kind of embarrassed. Just as Randy started to say something, she cut him off. "John, the light is my fault. Bad things used to happen to me in the dark, so I tend to not sleep well unless I can easily see what's in the hallway, but if it bothers you, I can just deal with it. I've had to before." She said softly. "Randy's just used to it."

John felt instantly bad, "I'm sorry. I didn't know, I was just trying to give him shit. You can leave it on, that doesn't bother me."

"Don't worry about it, I wouldn't expect you to know. But thanks for being so understanding." Juliana replied. She burrowed into the covers and closed her eyes. She could feel Randy beside her, he was starting to drift off to sleep. It had been so long since she had had been this close to him, she wanted to hold him, but she couldn't bring herself to do so. She just wasn't ready for that, that was moving too soon in her opinion.

THE NEXT DAY 

Elaine and Bob woke up to the sound of Randy's alarm going off. Elaine headed downstairs to make some coffee and check out the news before the boys were up. She walked out of the bedroom and noticed that the hallway light was on. She smiled to herself, she hadn't seen the light on since Randy had dated Juliana. She turned it off and headed downstairs.

As Randy awoke to his alarm, he opened his eyes and found Juliana asleep on his chest, holding onto his hand tight. She looked so peaceful and beautiful. He leaned down and carefully kissed her forehead. He carefully slid over so he could shut off the alarm and not wake everyone. He could feel himself thinking thoughts that probably should not be running through his mind right now but he couldn't help it. She was so beautiful, and only he knew just how in love with her he was. The world felt right when she was near.

He kissed her nose and gently rubbed her back. "Jules, it's time to wake up."

She stirred for a moment but then burrowed into his chest even more. Then her sub-consciousness woke up and she realized that she was lying on Randy's chest. She opened her eyes and looked up at him. "Yup, I'm laying on him, just like I was afraid of." She thought to herself. She sat up and stretched. "Good morning."

He smiled at her, "Good morning."

"Is it possible for me to take a shower?" Juliana asked.

"Yeah, everything's where it used to be. Nothing's changed. Go ahead, I'll meet you downstairs. I'm going to let John sleep." Randy replied getting out of bed, not bothering to hide that he awoke with morning wood.

Juliana couldn't help but notice and she almost laughed, but she was afraid he would think the wrong thing. So she climbed out of bed after him. She grabbed her duffel bag and headed to the bathroom.

Randy let everything on his body calm down before he headed downstairs. "Morning mom" he said kissing her on the cheek. He headed to the fridge and poured himself some orange juice and sat down at the kitchen table.

"Morning sweetie." Elaine replied. "So, I had a good stroll down memory lane this morning."

"Really, why?" Randy asked grabbing the newspaper.

"Well, I woke up to your alarm going off and the hallway light was left on all night. The last time I've seen that light on at night was back when you and Jules were still going out and she needed it on." She said as she made breakfast. "I know it's a touchy subject with you, but I had to tell you. You know, I'm really proud of you for finally talking to her today at the funeral. It may not be the best day to do so, but I know that she's going to need someone, and you could very well be that someone if she lets you."

"Oh, I think she'll let me." Randy replied not putting the paper down, but smirking behind it.

"Aren't we awfully sure of ourselves this morning?" Bob replied as he entered the kitchen. "How're you doing son?"

"I'm good dad, thanks. How 'bout you?" Randy said peaking over the paper.

"Better if you'd give me back my paper." Bob said with a laugh. He sat down and sipped his coffee. "Are you getting ready for Wrestlemania?"

"Yeah, I'm totally psyched up. It's going to be such a great night tomorrow." Randy replied.

As Elaine, Bob and Randy talked about Wrestlemania, Juliana appeared in the kitchen in her black dress, her hair around her shoulders and her cheeks were red from blushing. "Good morning ya'll."

Elaine and Bob looked up and Randy smiled. Soon the kitchen became one big hug fest. "Why I'll be damned, how the hell are ya?" Bob said giving her a big hug.

Elaine gave her a big hug, "It's so good to see you here. And I am so sorry about your Nana."

"Thanks you guys, I'm doing good. Yeah it's going to be weird not having her here." Juliana replied. She turned to Randy, "I totally forgot that I have to be to the funeral parlor early to prepare, but we didn't bring my car so if you wouldn't mind giving me either to my car, or the funeral parlor that would be great."

"Jules, I can't leave you there alone. Let me grab a quick shower, and we can head out." Randy started to say but Juliana interrupted him.

"Randy, I'll be fine. I'll be at a funeral parlor. Nothing is going to happen there. You still have to hit the gym and get ready for tomorrow. I'll be fine. Besides, I have a few things to do after all of the funeral stuff, so if you want, just run me to my car and we can go from there."

Randy shook his head, "I don't know if I like that. I don't trust him."

"He's probably not even awake yet. I'm sure everything will be fine." Juliana replied. "I have my cell phone and you have yours. Just keep it on you and if he shows up, I'll call you."

"Alright, but I don't like it." Randy said grabbing his keys.

"I promise, I'll be careful." Juliana said slipping her jacket on. She gave Elaine and Bob a hug and they assured her that they would see her at the funeral, and her and Randy left.

When they got to Juliana's car, Randy got out and gave her a big hug, "Jules, please be careful."

Juliana held him close, all of the memories from before came rushing back. She had to admit that it did feel good to be in his arms again, but could she ever trust him to be faithful to her? She hugged him tightly, "I will. Randy, you have to get in Wrestlemania mode. You and John go beat the hell out of something at the gym, and I'll see you in a couple hours." She said looking him in the eye. She smiled a shy smile, "Besides, I have to have some private Nana time before everyone shows up. It's going to be a tough day."

He hugged her again, "Yeah, and I'll be right there by your side. I'll see you in a few hours, ok?"

She nodded, "Thanks for the ride, and for last night. I'm sorry I blew up, I just.."

Randy smiled and looked in her eyes, "Get a little moody from time to time?"

Juliana laughed, "Yes, I get moody."

Randy smiled, "I'll see you later." And he got in his car. He watched as Jules climbed in her car and left. "Please God don't let anything happen to her. I'll never forgive myself if anything happens to you." And he headed back towards his house to pick up John.

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I'm so sorry for the HUGE delay in this update. Work has been SO busy that I haven't been able to type up the next chapter. So I greatly apologize and promise to update MUCH sooner than what has been happening!

Please continue to read and review!! You're reviews mean so much to me! I especially like when I've already started to write the next chapter, and to hear your ideas. That's wonderful! Thank you so much!

What's going to happen from here? Will Juliana be safe? Will Randy and her continue to grow closer or will something come between them?


	8. Chapter 8

BIG THANK YOU to gurl42069 and AandAMom for the reviews. They are much appreciated! Please continue to read and review!

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Randy picked up John, and they went to the gym. "Dude, so what's going on? Give me details." John said as he began running on the treadmill. "Are you working on getting back together or what?"

Randy started up on the treadmill also, "I would love to be back together with her, but for right now I'm just working on being a good friend. She has this psycho ex after her, and I wouldn't be surprised if he wants her dead. The problem is that because she's been abused before, it doesn't phase her the way it should, and the law enforcement system has really failed her as far as restraining orders go. It's not totally the laws fault, it's just he doesn't listen, and if he gets served, he finds her and beats her into submission. So I'm trying to protect her."

John looked at Randy, "I don't want this to sound as harsh as it's about to sound, but I have to ask. She was verbally, physically and sexually abused as a child right?"

Randy nodded, "Yeah."

"And now as an adult she's been verbally, physically and sexually abused right?"

Randy nodded again, "Yeah. Where are you going with this?"

"Isn't she damaged by now? I mean, she seems nice and all, but tell me this hasn't fucked with her mind. I don't want you to be in love with someone she used to be. Just to have you find out the hard way that she's nothing like who she was. You've always been honest with me, you like women. You like women who like to go out and have fun. Does she know how to go and have fun? Does she even like to be sexual? Is this really someone you can find yourself settling down with? This is a woman who needs to sleep with a light on. Tell me there's nothing wrong." John said cautiously but truthfully. He wasn't trying to be an asshole, but he really wanted Randy to think about what he was doing.

Randy stopped the treadmill and looked at him, "John, I've always looked at you like a brother, and therefore I'm just going to tell you like it is, and then I don't want you to bring up anything negative about her unless it doesn't have to do with the abuse. Her and I have been through hell and back together, TOGETHER through most of it. Yes, I've been there for her to lean on as her father has done things to her that NO man should ever do to a child. Yes she's had some problems that have haunted her, but for the most part she's a very balanced person. Her grandma was very big on getting her any help she felt she needed. Most kids who are abused the way she was have major problems with post traumatic stress disorder or depression and she hasn't. Now you're right, I don't know the person that she has become, for all I know she's become the poster child for one of those conditions, but I know her best friend, and I would like to think that I know her well enough. From what I've seen, she seems like the same ol' Jules, but to be honest, I don't know. That's what I want to change. Yes I love who she used to be, yes I may not love who she's become, but I will never know until I try. Yes, I know she sleeps with a nightlight and yes I'll be honest, it used to drive me nuts. She knew I hated it when she left the light on, but it made her feel better and I got used to it. As far as her sexuality goes, I'm not going to tell you all the details, but for the most part yes she can be very sexual and other nights it doesn't work out. But, I know that and I understand that. I want to give her and us that chance. The chance to be what we should have been had I not fucked up years ago."

John stopped the treadmill and patted Randy on the back, "Well, it sounds like you truly love her and that it's not about anything superficial. I'm really proud of you. It takes a strong man to handle someone who has a background like hers, and I wish you the best."

Randy smiled and laughed, "Thanks. I didn't mean to get on the soapbox, but trust me, I've heard it all over the years we were together so I tend to get set off easily."

John laughed, "No worries man. Now let's get some lifting done."

And the two continued their workout.

Meanwhile, Juliana spent some alone time with her grandma's casket. She finally felt like she had the closure she needed. She sat down and did the last minute paperwork with the funeral director and met with the priest conducting the service. It was almost time for people to start arriving and Juliana was getting nervous. She went and checked on the front display, it was a photo board with a scrapbook and her grandma's favorite flowers around it. She made sure that everything was just right as people began to arrive.

Half the people arriving knew who she was right away but she had no clue who they were. Then when she was talking with her grandma's best friend she saw Randy walk in with Elaine, Bob and John. She smiled a little to let him know she seen him and made her way over to them. "Thanks for coming." Elaine and Bob each gave her a hug. "We wouldn't miss this. We're going to miss her."

Juliana nodded. She looked over at Randy, "Hi. How was the gym?"

"It was good. How did everything go this morning?"

She smiled, "No traces of him, so I'm pretty sure he's still sleeping or forgot that he threatened me." She turned to John and smiled, "You didn't have to come with him you know. It's not like this is going to be the party of a century."

John laughed, "Well, any friend of Randy's is a friend of mine." And he gave her a hug. "I'm sorry for your loss. But I do have to say you 've got yourself a good guy here."

Juliana turned red, "Thanks." She turned back to Randy, "What time is your guys's flight?"

"12:45am. That way we can get there in time for all of the pre-show stuff. We have a couple appearances and lots of meetings before the show. But, mom said that you can stay the night there if you want. She doesn't mind." Randy started to suggest but Juliana shook her head.

"No, Randy I have a house. I have a bed, I can stay there. I'm fully capable of locking the door and having my cordless right there with me." Juliana replied.

"Ok Jules, let me give you this option." Randy said taking her hand.

Juliana looked at him with her eyes wide. "What?" She had no idea what he was up to.

"Come with me to Wrestlemania and Raw. We can fly home on Tuesday, but I promise you that you'll have a great time and it'll give him time to cool off." Randy started to suggest but Juliana was shaking her head.

"Randy, I can't just jet off with you. I have a job." She started to say but Randy interrupted.

"Call in."

"Randy, I have other obligations." She started to say when Randy interrupted.

"Like what?"

She sighed and looked at him, "I'm sorry, but I do have a life. Saturday nights I perform at a theater, and Sunday, Monday and Tuesday nights I perform at a café and at a bar."

"You perform what? What did you take up?" Randy asked.

She sighed and looked at her watch, "I'm Janet in the "Rocky Horror Picture Show and Shock Treatment at the theater Saturday nights at 11pm and Sunday thru Tuesday nights I perform music with a cover band and I play guitar and piano. Sometimes back-up and sometimes lead vocals."

"What? When did you start all of that?" Randy asked surprised. "I didn't know you liked to be in front of crowds."

Juliana smiled, "Well, some things have changed in the last few years. Music is a big part of my life, and the movies are my fun. I've never really fit in well, and there I fit right in. Although I am one of the oldest people there, but that's ok. Too bad you guys can't make it, it's a blast! But I can't just take off without planning for it first. I'm sorry Randy, I would love to be there for you on your big night, but I can't."

Randy nodded, "It's ok. I just worry about you. I just want to make sure that you're safe." And he gave her another hug.

"I have to go greet some more people, I have to sit in the front pew, you're welcome to join me." Juliana said as she walked off.

John laughed, "Some things have changed over the last few years." He mocked to Randy,

"Apparently. Now curiosity has struck." Randy said to John as he walked over to the photo board. He browsed through the board and the scrapbook that Juliana had made.

John laughed, "Dude, you guys have known each other since way back when. Look how little you were."

Randy laughed, "Yeah we have." His tone became more serious, "I'm going to miss her. Nana was awesome."

John patted him on his back, "Yeah, I bet she was. But at least she's in a better place."

Randy turned to the last page of the scrapbook and found a crumpled-looking, folded up piece of paper stuffed between the cover and the last page. Randy opened it up, and gasped as he read it.

John turned to look at him, "What's up?"

He handed the paper to John, "I can't let her out of my sight."

John looked down and his eyes opened wide as he read it, "Your precious Nana got in the way, you're next." He looked at Randy, "Dude, does she know about this?"

Randy shrugged, "I don't know. I don't think so. But she didn't die because of anything external, she had a heart attack. But I've gotta talk to Jules."

John grabbed his arm, "I don't think here is the place to do it. Besides, this isn't for you to solve, it's time to involve the police."

Randy looked at John, "If Jules just set all of this up this morning, then the letter wouldn't have been in there for others to find, he has to be here somewhere. I'm gonna find that son of a bitch and make him sorry that he ever messed with her."

John grabbed his arm, "Dude, you're going to wind up dead. Talk to her and go to the police. If he did it, then who's to say he won't do it again? Don't get all tangled up in this."

"Yeah, listen to your little friend. You fuck with me and you'll wind up as dead as Nana." Steve growled as he hid.

Juliana was walking by with a couple coats to hang up when Randy grabbed her arm, "Jules, we have to talk."

"Randy, the service starts in 5 minutes, it's going to have to wait." Juliana replied as she was hanging up the coats.

"Jules, this is really important. I think Steve's here." Randy replied.

Juliana's eyes opened wide and she started looking around, "Where? Why do you think that?"

Randy handed her the note, "I found this in the scrapbook."

She opened it up and read it and turned white as a sheet. "Oh my god."

"Do you think he's capable of doing something like that?" Randy asked holding her hand.

Juliana nodded, "Yeah, but Nana died of a heart attack. So it doesn't make sense."

"Did you have an autopsy done?" Randy asked.

Juliana shook her head, "No, she didn't believe in them. Once Steve and I were over there, and we were talking about funerals and she brought up how when she dies, she didn't want an autopsy and she what she did and didn't want. So I honored her wishes."

"So we don't know for sure." Randy said as Jules shook her head.

She grabbed Randy's hand tightly, "Ok, maybe I'll start taking this whole thing seriously."

He put his arm protectively around her, "Don't you worry. I'll protect you."

"Randy, we've got to get in there, but we'll talk about this on the way to the cemetery." Jules said quietly. They walked into the chapel and took their seats in the front pew.

Once the ceremony was under way, Steve slipped in and sat in the back pew watching the two of them. When Jules leaned her head on Randy's chest to cry, Steve began to shake. How dare she turn to another man. Once the ceremony turned to allowing people to come up and say a few words about her, Steve slipped out the back. He headed off to the cemetery to hide out.

After the ceremony was complete, they had a small luncheon there and headed off to the cemetery for the burial. It was there that Juliana found closure and turned to Randy to cry on. He held her close and rubbed her back and even had a few tears of his own.

Steve watched them and grew more and more angry. He could feel his rage build inside of him.

As the burial came to a close and people began to leave. Juliana still stood there just holding Randy. "I didn't think it would be this hard." She said between her tears. "I thought I came to terms with it this morning."

Randy rubbed her back, "It's never going to be easy. No matter how you prepare."

She nodded and sniffled.

Elaine and Bob walked over to Randy and John. "We're going to take off, are you boys going to ride home with us or Julie?" Bob asked.

Randy looked at John, "If you don't mind, I'd rather ride home with Jules."

John shrugged, "I don't mind. But our stuff is in your dad's car."

"We're going to grab our stuff, do you think you'll be ok?" Randy asked.

Juliana nodded not giving any thought about the letter. "Yeah, I'll be ok. I'm just going to go over by the casket and say goodbye again."

Randy and John walked off towards the car with Bob and Elaine.

Steve waited until they were out of sight and quietly walked up behind her. He placed one hand over her mouth and crouched down behind her pulling her into his body. "Listen you little bitch and you listen good. You haven't seen the last of me, not now, not ever. You are mine, ALL MINE." He hissed in her ear.

Juliana tried to struggle away, but he clamped down on her even harder.

John turned to Randy, "Dude, do you really think she was safe back there all alone with that psycho on the loose."

Randy's eyes opened wide, "Holy shit I can't believe I forgot." He turned around and started running back to where he left Juliana.

Steve was dragging Juliana towards the river that ran through the woods behind the cemetery. "It's time for you to redeem yourself for your sins. I'm going to bathe you in holy water." He snarled as he fought against her fighting against him.

She tried kicking at him, she tried grabbing at his hair. She kicked him as hard as she could in the shin and he stumbled. He raised his fist and struck her hard at the base of her neck between her shoulder blades. "You want to play rough, we'll play it rough." He growled angrily.

Juliana cried out but with him having her mouth covered it was so muffled. She felt the tears welling up in her eyes, she was so scared, but she didn't want to give him the satisfaction of seeing it.

Randy got back to the coffin and Juliana was no where to be found. "Shit." He said kicking the ground. He went up to a group of elderly people that were talking by a tree. "Excuse me, but did any of you see where Juliana went?"

One lady looked up, "The poor thing was so upset. A nice fellow walked her off that way." She said pointing towards the woods.

"Thanks ma'am." Randy said and he ran off towards the woods.

John followed behind him and called the police while he ran. Thank God he paid attention to the name of the cemetery because he had no clue where he was otherwise.

Randy could hear some rustling so he followed the sounds. He slowed down as the rustling got louder. He could hear him yelling at her, but he didn't hear her responding.

Randy walked slowly and seen that the guy who he assumed was Steve was running off into the forest screaming "I told you so bitch, I told you so."

Randy ran down and began to chase him when he realized he didn't have Juliana. He stopped and turned around and couldn't see her anywhere. Randy started to panic, he began to call her name. She could be anywhere.

John and 2 police officers arrived at the area. John called out to Randy, "What happened?"

Randy shook his head, "He took off and I can't find her."

One of the cops asked, "Did you check the water?"

Randy shook his head and began to wade in while the officers called for back up and a search and rescue crew.

As Randy waded around, he tripped over something. He bent down and felt around and felt something. He stood up, "I think I've got her." And he went under water to retrieve it.

John was farther down the river and headed to where Randy was to help. Together they lifted her body carefully out of the river. The cops began cpr on Juliana. One cop looked at John, "We have paramedics about a minute away, can you run out to where we came in the woods and meet them so they know where to go?"

John nodded and ran off. Randy knelt down by Juliana and began to pray that she would be all right. She had multiple cuts and bruises developing and Randy was beside himself. He never should have left her side.

They heard John coming through with the paramedics. The cop looked up, "She has a pulse, but she's not breathing."

The paramedics did a quick exam and began rescue breathing. As Randy prayed harder and mentally beat himself up, she began to cough and sputter and soon her eyes flickered open. She looked around with a panicked look.

Randy grabbed her hand and squeezed it, "Jules, I'm here.

"What happened?" She asked breathlessly.

The paramedics continued the exam while Randy explained what happened. They loaded her onto the stretcher. One looked at Randy, "we can fit one person to ride with."

Randy looked at John, "Do you mind driving her car and following?"

John shook his head, "Nope, I don't mind."

Randy looked at Jules, "Do you know where your keys are?"

"They're in my purse." She said weakly. "I dropped it in the woods so you would know where he took me."

John shook his head, "I'll find it, don't worry."

The police offered to help him look for it and they split up to help.

"Let's go." The paramedics said. Randy walked alongside the stretcher holding her hand. Juliana held it back tightly. One of the paramedics looked over at Randy, "Did they find the guy?"

Randy shook his head, "No, once I realized he didn't have her anymore, I quit chasing him to find her."

They walked in silence to the ambulance where they loaded her in and Randy climbed inside. Just as they were shutting the doors, Randy seen John walking with the cops and her purse to her car. He leaned down by Juliana's ear, "He found your purse."

Juliana smiled weakly, "Good, it would suck if that was lost too."

Randy smiled. She still had her sense of humor. He squeezed her hand and kissed her forehead. And the ambulance took off towards the hospital.

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Please read and review!! What will happen next? Psycho Steve is still out there lurking around. Please continue to read and review and give me your feedback, I appreciate it!!!


	9. Chapter 9

Thank you so much for the great review! I appreciate them all good or bad. Please continue to read and review! I'm sorry it took so long, but work has been really busy so I haven't been able to type it up. Sorry!!

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When John arrived at the hospital, Randy was pacing in the waiting room. He walked up over to him, "Hey, have you heard anything?"

Randy shook his head, "No. She's in getting a CT scan of her head to check for a concussion. They won't tell me anything else." Randy ran his hand threw his hair in frustration, "God, I can't believe I was so stupid. I never, ever should have left her alone. We knew he was somewhere around."

John looked at him, "Randy, you can't beat yourself up over this. This isn't your fault. You forgot, you're human. How did you know that he was going to be at the cemetery? Instead of beating yourself up, why not concentrate on how she's doing. This may be the wake up call that she needed to actually accept help."

Randy nodded, "I know. I know. It just kills me, they won't tell me anything."

John finally convinced Randy to sit down and flip thru the paper. Finally a dr came walking out. "Mr. Orton?"

Randy set the paper down and jumped out of his chair. "Yes doc?"

The doctor smiled, "Hi, I'm Dr Brown. Juliana is out of the CT scan and is in recovery. While we walk down there, I'll explain her condition to you."

Randy motioned to John to follow, and he looked at the dr, "Is she going to be ok?"

The doctor nodded, "She will be ok. She's pretty sore, she's pretty banged up. The police are here to take a statement, but she's asking for you before she'll talk to them. Currently Juliana has had some confusion, weakness, nausea, ringing in her ears and in the ambulance they reported that she talked about double vision."

Randy nodded, "Yes, I'm very versed in the symptoms of a concussion, and I know that that was the first thing the paramedics noticed. Does she have any long-term effects from being underwater?"

"Well, we do have her in observation, and will need to keep her for at least a few more hours. Her body temp was low, so we do have her under warming blankets, and she does have a slight form of hypoxia, but her levels are increasing, so we need to keep an eye on her. For going through what she has, she has a great outcome. She has bruised ribs, multiple cuts and bruises, but other than that, I think she'll be ok." Dr. Brown relayed.

Randy exhaled, "Thank god. I was so worried about her."

The doctor patted him on the back and pointed to a door where 2 officers were posted. "The police will be here as long as she's here in case her attacker decides to try and attack her here. But, they are waiting on a statement as well. And more importantly, she's waiting to see you."

Randy smiled and shook his hand, "Thanks again Doc, I appreciate it." He looked at John, "I'll be back."

John nodded and smiled, "Go check on her."

Randy nodded and walked into her room. She had the warming blankets and lights on her, she was on oxygen, she looked so pale. The sight of her hooked up on the machines sent a chill down Randy's spine. She had sensors on her head to monitor brain activity. "Oh my god, she's in a coma" was Randy's first thought. He couldn't believe the doctor hadn't told him. He picked up Juliana's limp hand and he could feel the tears building inside of him. "God Jules, I'm so sorry I left you alone. I swear to you on everything holy, that I will not lose you again. Never again will I be so stupid as to treat you the way I did, and never again would I ever cheat on you. You are the only woman that I have ever truly loved, and I don't want to lose that. God, if you let her pull through this, I promise that I will live for her. I want to spend the rest of my life with her, I want to marry her. I want to have the chance to show her just how much I truly love her. Just please God let her live. The night she left, I let my pride get the best of me, and I vow to never do that again. God I'm sorry. "

Juliana laid there motionless not wanting to move. To hear Randy pledge his love for her was enough to make her cry. She couldn't help but have tears sliding down her cheek. Randy noticed the tear and squeezed her hand, "Jules, if you can hear me, squeeze my hand."

Juliana squeezed his hand as tight as she could and opened her eyes, "Randy."

Randy leaned down and kissed her lips ever so gently, "Oh my god, I can't believe you're awake."

Juliana smiled a little, "Randy, honey, I wasn't in a coma. I was just asleep." She wasn't sure if she should bring up that she heard everything he had said.

Randy's face had a total look of shock come over it. "You weren't in a coma?"

Juliana gently shook her head. "No, the doctor was going to tell you everything."

Randy shook his head, "He did, but I came in and seen all of the monitors and panicked and thought he didn't tell me the truth. How are you feeling?"

"I'm really sore." She said weakly. "Every muscle in my body aches and I have a horrible headache. But, the doctor said that I'm lucky because I didn't have any serious damage."

Randy nodded, "God Jules, I'm so sorry I ever left you alone."

"It's not your fault. Maybe I should have taken this seriously. It's not worth concentrating on the coulda woulda shoulda. But I have to give the police my statement, as much as I can remember, and I was wondering if you wouldn't mind being here and holding my hand while I do it." She said blushing. "I know it's nothing, but I don't do well at that." She started to ramble but Randy put his finger to her lips.

"Sweetie, I'll be by your side for anything you want." He said with a smile. "Do you want me to call them in here?"

She nodded, "Yeah, then they can go do their thing."

Randy nodded and walked outside of the room and approached the officers. He let them know that she was ready to give a statement, and explained that as a child dealing with child abuse, she had officers be pretty mean to her, so to please try to give her a break. The officers acknowledged his concerns and said that they would be nice to her.

They all walked back into her room. Randy went and sat down by Juliana and held her hand. She told the officers as much as she could remember. Everything after he threw her down and she hit her head on a rock was a complete blur to her. She didn't remember being resuscitated, she didn't remember Randy being there, she didn't remember the ambulance ride, but she remembered panicking when she realized she was in a hospital. She told the officers about the letter that they had found in the scrapbook at her grandma's funeral, and that it was in her purse. She also said that she had had a restraining order on him, but when he got served, he beat her up and put her in ICU. He had threatened to kill her and her grandma if she told the police, so just a mugging was filed and because of what happened after he was served the last time, she didn't even bother to renew it.

The police thanked her for her time and gave her a case number and they left. She looked at Randy, "Thanks for being here, I really appreciate it."

"Jules, I really want you to think about coming with me to Wrestlemania. I know that you have other things going on, but until he's behind bars, I don't think it's safe." Randy said holding her hand.

Juliana nodded, "I knew you were going to bring it up. And I thought about it, but I can't go with you. I can't fly. The doctor wants me to wait until my follow-up before I fly because of the concussion and the near-drowning. He won't prohibit it, but he would like me to wait."

Randy thought about it for a minute. "Jules, what if we drive?" The show is in Rosemount, IL it's not that far away."

"Randy, you and John already have plane tickets, they're non-refundable. I'm not having you waste your money like that." She argued.

"Jules, it's just money. You and your safety is much more important. Look, I know that you were sleeping, but I also know how lightly you sleep. How much of my ranting did you hear?" He asked her.

Juliana smiled and blushed a little. "Well…how honest do you want me to be?"

Randy sighed and nodded, "I figured as much." He sat down beside her on the bed gently, picked up her hand again, and looked her in the eyes, "I meant every word. I know that we talked, and that you wanted to just be friends and move slow, but I have to tell you that I love you so much. I don't want to scare you, but I want to be honest. When we were apart, I wasn't the same. Yes, I played the field, yes I was rowdy, but nothing ever felt the way it felt with you. I am willing to do whatever it takes, but I want us to give it another chance."

Juliana had tears in her eyes, the only thing she had ever seen him so passionate about was wrestling, and this was unreal to her. She wiped her eyes and sniffled, "And just what are you suggesting?"

"I can't tell you yet." He said with a smile. "But I'll tell you soon."

"Look, let me go talk to John, I have an idea, but I have to see if it'll work." Randy said. "I'll be right back."

Juliana nodded lightly and pulled the covers up. She just couldn't get herself to warm up. Her head was swimming with everything Randy had talked about. She couldn't believe it, and as much as she wanted to tell him to back off part of her wanted to believe everything he said.

Randy came back in a couple minutes later with a smile. "We've got it all covered. John is going to keep his flight and you and I are going to drive."

"Oh Randy, I don't want to separate the two of you. Look, I can drive separate and…" Juliana started to protest but Randy wouldn't hear it.

"You have a serious concussion. That psycho is still out there, you will not drive alone. It'll be fine. The only thing is that Sunday night we'll be sharing a room with John." Randy replied.

"Are you sure this isn't going to be a problem? What if you get in trouble?" Juliana asked concerned. She didn't want to interfere with any of his stuff.

"It'll be fine, I won't get in trouble. I'm going to run home and grab my stuff and your stuff. John's going to stay here and make sure everything is ok. Then when you discharge, I'll bring you to your place and you can grab the clothes that you'll want." Randy replied with a smile. "Don't worry, I've got everything worked out."

Juliana smiled, "Randy, I really appreciate how you're doing all of this for me. I don't know if you know just how much it means to me. Thank you so much."

Randy kissed her cheek, "No problem. I'm going to have John come in here and keep you company, and I'm going to run to the house and grab our stuff. I'll be back as soon as I can."

Juliana nodded, "If he doesn't want to sit in here, he doesn't have to, I'll be ok."

"John doesn't mind. Besides, that way we know that the psycho doesn't try anything while you're here." Randy said as he was walking out the door.

"Just be careful. I don't like that you're involved, I don't want him to hurt you too." Juliana replied.

"Baby, I'll be fine. Don't you worry." Randy said with a smile. "Be back soon."

John walked into Juliana's room, "Hey, how are you feeling?"

"Probably like I look." Juliana replied with a smile. "I'm really sorry that all of this is happening, you guys are supposed to be having fun, not dealing with my problems."

"Don't even worry about it." John replied patting her hand. "I'm just glad that you're ok. Do you like to play cards?"

Juliana nodded, "I know a few games."

And the two of them began playing poker.

Randy was whistling as he walked out to his car. He had Juliana's keys from John, and he pushed the unlock button to find her car.

Little did Randy realize that he was being watched. Steve was watching every move Randy made. "You think that this is over, it's far from over." He said coming out of the shadows, crow bar in his hand. He pulled the ski mask over his face.

As Randy went to open the car door, Steve crept up behind him and struck him with the crowbar right between the shoulder blades. Randy went down. When he turned to look to see what was going on, the crowbar came down towards his head, but Randy grabbed it and began to fight with the masked man. Randy kicked him in the stomach and gave him an uppercut. The masked man shook his head and began to swing the crowbar. He connected with Randy's ribs, his chest and his bad shoulder. Randy crouched on his knee trying to catch a breath when the masked man swung again and everything went black.

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Again, I'm so sorry about the slow update, work has been so busy! I don't have Internet at home right now, so the only place I get to work on this is at work. Please continue to update and review, and please be patient with me!! Your reviews mean so much to me! (((HUGS))) THANK YOU!!!


	10. Chapter 10

Randy awoke face down in the parking lot and he felt like he had been run over by a truck. He got up and noticed that the masked man was gone. He knew who it was, the mask didn't hide anything. He felt his head and found blood. He groaned and picked himself up. He staggered a bit and walked back into the hospital but headed to the bathroom. He walked in and saw that he had a huge gash on his head that was bleeding pretty good, he lifted his shirt and could see where the crow bar hit him, his ribs were sore, and his shoulder was sore. "Shit." He muttered wiping his forehead with a paper towel. He left the bathroom and headed down to the emergency room.

3 hours later, Randy walked into Juliana's room. "Holy shit dude, what the hell happened to you?" John exclaimed. "Vince is going to shit a brick!"

Juliana's eyes opened wide, she couldn't believe how out of hand this had gotten. "Randy, I'm so sorry. This is all my fault." She said as she started to cry. "You should go without me. I'm not getting you any more involved than you already are."

Randy went over to Juliana and held her. "Babe, I'm not going anywhere without you by my side. John, Vince will have to deal with it. It's not like it can't be worked in. Jules, have they said when you can discharge yet?"

Juliana nodded, "Yeah, I'm good to go whenever. The doctor has already signed the papers, but the nurse has to make sure that I'm walked out with a wheelchair and a security guard. How did all of this happen?" She asked as she gently reached to his face.

"Out in the parking lot. He jumped me from behind. We got into a scuffle, I gave him some good shots, but he had a crow bar. So I got stitches, went and got our stuff and came back here." Randy replied. "Buzz your nurse, let's get out of here."

Juliana nodded. John cleared his throat. "Jules isn't telling you everything."

Juliana shot him a look with narrowed eyes. "John, everything's fine."

John shook his head, "You're not getting off that easy. The doctor doesn't want her falling asleep alone for the next 24 hours. He was hesitant to discharge her because her brain still has some swelling, but he understood the circumstances. If she has any double vision, ringing in her ears, or intractable migranes, we are to bring her into the nearest facility to have her brain checked out."

Juliana rolled her eyes, "I'll be fine. It's not like I've never had a concussion before."

John looked at Randy, "Did you get a concussion?"

Randy shook his head while looking at his watch, "Nope, I'm fine. Let's get ready to go." Randy wouldn't look at John or Juliana with his answer.

John and Juliana looked at each other questioningly, but got up and started to get ready to go. The nurse entered the room and smiled, "So you guys are ready to get on the road?"

Everyone smiled, "Yes ma'am." Juliana replied as she climbed into the wheelchair. Randy pushed her as John went to get the car.

When they got to the doors, Randy helped Juliana up and helped her out to the car. She sat in the backseat and John and Randy sat up in front. "Since it's so early, can I join your road trip?" John inquired. "Or was it supposed to be romantic?"

Juliana and Randy laughed. "You can join us. The more the merrier." Juliana replied. "But just remember that I listen to everything, so the cd's I have in here have everything from rap to country to rock to pop on them. Randy's used to that already."

"No problem." John replied.

"We're going to go to Juliana's place, grab her some clothes that she'll feel comfortable in, and then we'll hit the road.' Randy said to John.

"Ok, just tell me how to get there." John said from behind the wheel.

When they got to Juliana's place, she looked at the boys. "It won't take me very long, I'll be right back."

Randy shook his head, "If you don't mind, I'd like to come with just to make sure he's not lurking in your hallways."

Juliana shrugged, "That's fine."

Randy and Juliana got out of the car. Randy looked at John, "Are you coming?"

John shook his head, "No, I'll wait out here."

As Randy and Juliana walked into her place, Steve began to pull the mask down over his head. "I'll teach you guys a lesson. I'll take care of the tag-along and then they'll learn who they've messed with." He picked up his crow bar and began to quietly creep towards the car.

Just as he was within arms reach of the car door he was lit up with lights and sirens, "Stop right there and put the weapon down." Came over the pa system.

John jumped and looked out the window and realized what was about to happen to him.

Steve stomped the ground and dropped the crow bar. As he shouted obscenities at the cops, they placed him under arrest.

Juliana and Randy watched from the window, "Oh my god, I can't believe how psycho he is." She said to Randy. "How did the cops know he would come here?"

"Well, I called the cops that took your statement and let them know about us coming here before going out of town, so they sent a few squads just in case he came to try anything." Randy explained. "I didn't say anything because I didn't want anyone acting different."

John came walking in from outside, "Ok, the psycho is gone."

Juliana went back to packing her bags and soon the three of them were on the road.

For awhile the conversation kept going with getting to know each other, and then the cd's started. John put on an old Dr. Dre cd and Juliana laughed. "Wow, you like everything from old school to new school don't you?"

John smiled and looked back, "Don't mess with Dr. Dre."

Juliana yawned. "Ok, I know that the rule of road tripping is that no one sleeps, but I am so tired and my head hurts so bad. Would you guys mind if I napped a little?"

Randy laughed, "That's fine sweetie. Did you bring a pillow?"

Juliana shook her head, "No, I didn't plan on sleeping."

Randy looked at John, "Why don't you pull over, I'll hop in back and she can lean on me."

John laughed and pulled over. Randy hopped out and hopped in the back with Juliana. "I can be your pillow."

Juliana smiled and laughed a little. "Well, thank you. But you didn't have to do that." She cursed herself for not being strong, but the thought of snuggling him was just way too inviting at this point.

The minute her head hit his chest, she was out.

Randy and John laughed and joked about the entire trip and everything that had happened. John looked at Randy, "You know, I have to tell you, Juliana's pretty cool. She's really laid-back and down-to-Earth and just very easy to get along with."

Randy smiled, "You'd never know she had such a nasty past would you?"

John shook his head, "No, you really wouldn't. She's adjusted very well."

Randy nodded and rubbed Juliana's back. "Yeah, you can thank her grandma for that. She did a great job of making sure that Jules got all of the help she needed. And Nikki is a great friend to her."

Awhile later, Juliana began to stir. She stretched, "How long did I sleep for?"

Randy laughed, "Well, the drive is four and a half hours, and we're about 20 minutes away, so you slept for a couple hours."

Juliana blushed and sat up, "You guys, I'm sorry! You should have woken me up! I didn't even help drive or help to make sure you guys were awake or anything."

John shook his head, "Don't worry about it. We just talked about you, that's all." He said with a smile.

Juliana reached up and slugged him in the arm, "Hey now." She turned back to Randy, "When we get into town, can we find a drive thru? I'm hungry."

"Ask and you shall receive." Randy said with a smile. As they pulled into town, they went through a drive thru and picked up food. Then they headed to the hotel.

As they walked into the lobby of the hotel, they could hear the music playing from the hotel bar. John looked at Randy and Juliana "After we eat, we should go grab a drink."

Randy nodded, "Sounds good to me. What do you think? Wanna join us?"

Juliana nodded, "Sure, I'm game."

They were waiting for the elevator when all of a sudden Randy had someone wrapping their arms around him from behind, "Hey baby. When did you get in?" And the woman gave Randy a kiss on the back of the neck.

Randy turned around and seen it was Maria. "Hey Maria, we just got in." He said motioning to John and Juliana.

"Wow, John got a girlfriend. Way to go John!" Maria said giving John a hug.

John smiled and shook his head. Juliana just stood there taking it all in. She had read the stories that Nikki sent her about Randy being a playboy amongst the divas and possibly having many groupies as well.

Randy started to blush a little and looked at Maria, "She's not John's girlfriend, she's with me."

Maria looked shocked, "Oh!"

The elevator arrived and they all started walking in. Maria waved, "See ya later!"

Randy and John waved and Juliana smiled. The minute the door shut, she bust out laughing. "Congrats on the girlfriend John."

Randy gave her a little hug, "I'm sorry about her."

Juliana shrugged, "No biggie. Not my worry."

Randy smiled but he was still concerned.

The elevator doors opened and there was Candice and Ashley, "Randy's here!" they shrieked. They both kissed him on the cheek. "Hey John!" And they went to kiss him, but Ashley stopped Candice, "John brought his girlfriend."

Candice smiled, "It's so nice to meet you, I'm Candice." She said holding her hand out.

Randy's head dropped. "She's not his girlfriend. She's with me."

Both girls looked shell-shocked. John tried hard not to laugh and Juliana just smiled. "Well, have fun you guys!" And they got in the elevator and quickly closed the doors.

John patted Randy on the back as they walked to the room in silence. Randy shook his head. "How is she ever going to say yes to being my girlfriend when I look like a playboy?" He thought to himself.

They got to their room and Juliana opened the door. They all piled in and sat down on the beds to eat.

Juliana sat down by Randy and John sat across from them. "Looks like the life of the party has arrived." John said with a smile.

Randy glared at him as he ate. John could tell that he was concerned so he was trying to lighten the mood a little.

Juliana looked around their room, "John, are you sure you don't mind if I crash you and Randy's party in here?"

John nodded, "Jules, you're welcome to tag along anytime."

They finished eating quickly and everyone changed into different clothes to go down to the hotel bar in. Juliana quickly hopped in the bathroom to touch up the make-up she was using to hide the bruises and to make sure her bangs were covering her stitches. Randy was just finishing getting dressed and he looked over at John, "Hey, since you're done, can you give Jules and I a couple minutes?"

John nodded, "No problem. I'll meet ya downstairs."

Randy nodded, "Thanks."

John headed out. A couple minutes later Juliana emerged. "Sorry, but I'm ready now."

Randy turned around, "Wow, you look great!"

She smiled and blushed a little, "Thanks. Where did John go?"

"Actually, I was hoping we could have a couple minutes. I wanted to talk to you about something." He said sitting down on the bed.

"Ok, what did you want to talk about? Is everything ok? I'm not going to get you in trouble am I?" Juliana asked concerned.

Randy shook his head, "No, nothing like that." He reached across and took her hand. "Jules, I know we've had a few talks, and I know that you overheard my conversation with God and I told you that I had told you that I would tell you soon about what I had in mind, and I'd like to talk to you about that."

Juliana took a deep breath, "Ok."

"I know that towards the end of our relationship I treated you like crap. I was an asshole and you deserve so much better. But I also know how good we've had it. Jules, I know that I let my pride get in the way of calling you, or contacting you, but you were never not on my mind. I can honestly tell you that I love you more now than I ever have. Jules, I know that you said that we were only going to be friends, but I would really like to show you just how much I've changed. Jules, I think I've found a way that we can compromise." Randy explained.

Juliana listened to him in disbelief. In all of the years that she had known Randy, she had never, ever seen this side of him.

"Jules, would you give me the honor of being my girlfriend again? We could just start off slow, and work our way towards forever. I want to promise you everything. There will never be another girl, and I will never take you for granted. I know that you have a career, and I am so proud of you for that." Randy said holding her hand.

Juliana closed her eyes and took another deep breath, "Are you sure this is what you really want? Or is this just a spur of the moment, haven't seen each other in a long time, saved my life, kind of relationship?"

Randy squeezed her hand, "I mean every word."

Even though her head was telling her no, her heart couldn't help but say yes. Juliana nodded, "Yes, I'll be your girlfriend and yes I'll give us a second chance."

Randy leaned over and hugged her. Then he leaned in and gave her the sweetest kiss. Juliana felt herself getting a little light-headed. She had almost forgotten just how amazing his kisses were.She prayed she was making the right decision.

"Let me introduce you to the gang." Randy said.

Juliana smiled and nodded, "Ok."

And they were off.

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Thanks for being so patient, and please continue to read and review!!! (((HUGS))) For the great reviews!!! (PS. CagedSparkle: THANK YOU!!!)


	11. Chapter 11

Thank you so much for the great reviews!!! I really appreciate you guys sticking with me. I know updates can be slow at times, but trust me, this is going to be great! (((HUGS))) Thank you!!!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Randy and Jules walked into the hotel bar and made their way towards the bar. Randy ordered a whiskey coke and Jules ordered a cherry coke. She looked at Randy, "I'm not supposed to drink alcohol till the swelling goes down."

Randy nodded, "No worries." He put his arm around her and they walked towards the crowd. There they seen Maria, Ashley, Candice, John Cena, Brian Kendrick, Shelton Benjamin and Dave Batista. Randy and Jules walked over there. "Hey guys."

Everyone shouted their various greetings. Randy smiled and tightened his grip on Jules, "Guys, this is my girlfriend Juliana, but you can also call her Jules."

Everyone said hi and held up their drink. John leaned over to Juliana and winked, "Congratulations." He said in her ear.

She smiled, "Thanks."

As everyone was talking about the show, and the party afterward, Jules excused herself to go up to the bar and order another cherry coke. She got up to the bar and ordered a cherry coke. She was watching the group as she felt someone come up behind her, "Kind of a rowdy bunch isn't it?"

She turned and looked and there was Josh Matthews. She didn't know if she should act like she knew who he was or not, so she smiled, "Yeah, kind of."

"Don't worry, they don't mean any harm, they're just trying to blow off some steam, tonight is a big night for them." He replied smiling. "They won't start any fights."

Jules took her cherry coke from the bartender and tipped him, "Yeah, I heard it's Wrestlemania tomorrow night here in town."

Josh moved closer, "I'm Josh." He said holding his hand out. "And you are?"

Juliana smiled, "I'm Juliana." And she shook his hand.

Dave Batista looked over at Randy, "Hey Randy, Josh is trying to put the moves on your girlfriend."

Randy looked up from his conversation with Shelton, "What?"

"Over at the bar. Take a look." Dave said pointing.

Randy looked over and sure enough, there was Josh trying to hit on Jules. Randy smiled a devious smile, "This is going to be fun." And he finished his drink and began to head towards Jules and Josh.

Brian started laughing and tapped John on the back, "Josh was in the bathroom when Randy introduced her, so when he seen her at the bar he said he thought she was hot, so I told him to go put the moves on her."

John started laughing, "Spanky, you're a riot. You're going to get his ass kicked."

Spanky smiled and shrugged his shoulders and took another drink. John couldn't help but laugh.

Randy walked up behind Josh, Jules noticed him, but Randy put a finger up to his lips. She just kept on smiling and talking. Randy walked right up behind Josh and put his arm around him, "Josh my man!"

Josh smiled, "Randy, how's it going? Oh, Randy, I'd like you to meet Juliana. Juliana, this is Randy Orton, he's one of the wrestlers."

Juliana smiled and held her hand out, "Nice to meet you Randy, good luck at Wrestlemania."

Randy smiled and shook her hand, "Nice to meet you too Juliana."

Juliana smiled because Randy rarely ever used her full name.

Randy looked at Juliana, "So, is Josh being nice to you?"

She smiled and blushed a little, "Yes, he's being nice."

Randy smiled, "So, Josh, what's taking you so long? Have you asked her to dance yet?"

Josh smiled and put his head down, "No, not yet. We were just talking."

"Well, go ahead, get to asking her." Randy said pushing him.

Josh looked up, "Would you like to dance with me?"

Juliana smiled, "That's very nice of you to ask, but I can't. I'm here with my boyfriend."

Randy smiled and winked at Jules from behind Josh, "And I bet that if your boyfriend seen that someone was talking to you he would be very upset wouldn't he?"

"Oh yes, very upset. He gets a little protective when we're at new places." Juliana replied.

Josh looked around, "You don't see him do you? I wouldn't want to upset him."

"Well actually yes, I do see him, and he's giving you the evil eye." Juliana replied. "And look, he's right here."

"Where?" Josh said nervous as he turned around he walked right into Randy.

Randy looked at him, "Right here."

"What?!?" Josh replied.

"You must have missed the introduction, Josh, this is my girlfriend Juliana." He said motioning to her.

"Dude, I'm so sorry. It's all Spanky's fault. He told me to come and talk to her." He said looking towards the group, and there he seen Spanky laughing his ass off and holding up his drink to him. "What a bastard." Josh grumbled.

Randy laughed and slapped him on the back, "No harm done." He turned to Jules, "Come on sweetie, a few more people arrived, I'll introduce you."

Juliana nodded, "See you around Josh, it was nice meeting you."

He smiled, "Nice meeting you too."

After hanging out with Randy and his buddies for awhile, Juliana kept watching the band, and finally decided to go check out the band. She made her way to the stage and when they took a break, she went and talked to the lead singer.

The band took the stage, and the lead singer Jenny grabbed the mike. She advised the crowd that she was a fan of the band that this next singer hails from and she was allowing her to sing a song.

The spotlight went to Juliana sitting at the piano. "Thanks, I hope you don't mind, but I've been working on learning this song, and I thought that I would try it out on you guys, I hope that you don't mind."

Randy was caught up in a conversation and didn't even notice that Jules was up on stage. Shelton loudly announced, "Randy, you're woman's on stage."

Randy quickly shut up and turned around. There she was, the light shining on her, and she began playing the piano. She was performing the Kelly Clarkson song, "Because of You." Everyone who was there from the WWE stopped what they were doing and watched her sing. Her voice was pure, her playing was perfect, she hit every note with precision and she sang with such raw emotion, it almost made Randy tear up. He knew that the words of the song closely mirrored her father, so he knew where she was getting the emotions. He had sang karaoke with her since they were 16, but he never realized just how much talent she had.

The WWE group watched closely. The divas hoping to find something to hate about her, but they couldn't. She had such a beautiful voice, how could you not like it?

When the song was done, the bar erupted into applause. The WWE guys were patting Randy on the back and whistling.

The divas were clapping, but one diva in particular was trying to hide her disappointment. She had been flirting with Randy and partying with Randy, and messing around with him, and now suddenly he's dating some other woman? She was not happy, and she knew that she would have to use everything she had to win his affection back. And she meant everything.

Some of the crowd were cheering for an encore. Jenny the lead singer looked over at Jules, "C'mon, whaddya say to one more?"

Jules smiled, "Sure. Do you have a guitar I can use?"

As Jenny was getting a guitar for Jules, she suggested singing "Kerosene" by Miranda Lambert. Jules smiled, "Sure, that'll get 'em on their feet."

They began to perform "Kerosene" and Randy could see just how much Jules enjoyed performing. She was doing great. The crowd loved her, his buddies were impressed, and he had to admit, even some of the divas were jamming.

As she sang the lyrics, "Forget your high society, I'm soakin' it in Kerosene  
Light 'em up and watch them burn, teach them what they need to learn HA!" She jumped up on a speaker and began to stomp as she sang. She really had the crowd going.

Randy watched in complete awe. He had never seen her this outgoing and sassy in his life. She was really rockin' out. When she was playing the guitar or when she was just singing. He had to laugh because as she sang the lyrics, "Now I don't hate the one who left, You can't hate someone that's dead. He's out there holding on to someone, I'm holding up my smoking gun" She flashed the Hardy Boyz symbol and winked at the crowd as she acted like she blew the smoke off of the barrel of a gun. She continued on, "I'll find somewhere to lay my blame the day she changes her last name. Well I'm giving up on love 'cause love's given up on me. I'm giving up on love HEY love's given up on me." Part of him felt bad because he knew that he had cheated on her, but that was in the past and they had both promised to move on and not dwell in the past. But her electricity was amazing.

When she was done, she said her thank yous and hopped off. Randy reached out and held her. "Holy shit, I knew you were good, but I didn't know you were that good!"

She smiled, "Thanks. It's just something I enjoy doing."

A lot of Randy's WWE buddies were patting her on the back and telling her she did a good job. Just as she was getting ready to tell Randy she needed to go to sleep, she felt someone tap her on the shoulder. She turned around and there were two men in suits, "Can I help you?" She asked. She had definitely had her share of hecklers and weirdos since working with the band and while doing Rocky Horror, so she put up her tough front.

"Do you have a moment? We would like to talk to you regarding your performance." The man in the black suit said.

"Don't worry, this isn't anything weird, we just want to ask you a few questions." The man in the blue suit said.

"That's fine, but I would like to have my boyfriend accompany us, is that ok?" She replied. Part of her just wasn't sure about this.

"No problem, we'll meet you at a table outside of the front door in the lobby." The man in the black suit said. The two men headed out to the lobby and Jules walked over to Randy.

"Randy, can I borrow you?" She asked.

"Yeah, are you ready to head up?" He asked.

"Well, there are two guys in suits that want to talk to me about the performance, and I'm not so sure I want to do that alone. They want to talk in the lobby." Juliana advised.

"Yup, let's go." Randy said setting down their drinks. They said their good-byes and headed out to the lobby,

Juliana approached the table with Randy. The two men stood up, "We're Michael Robinson (black suit) and Jordan Simpson (blue suit) and we're from the American Idol talent scouting board." They said as they held out their hands and offered business cards.

Juliana and Randy shook their hands and took the cards. They all sat down at the table as Michael began to speak. "We wanted to talk to you regarding your performance. We were very impressed. You have a great vocal range, you are able to play a few musical instruments, and you have a great stage presence. You seem to captivate an audience, and you have a great look. What our job is is to find some local talent and encourage them to audition for the show."

Jordan leaned forward, "I know what you're thinking, you're thinking the show is rigged. Well, the voting is legit, the determining of the winner is all legit. We just help to pick out some talent that we know is worthy of such a reward and we plant them in with the other auditions. But we put a note in the file so they know that you were picked by us and they'll still evaluate you and critique you like everyone else, however you will be one of the selected to continue on."

Michael sat forward as Jordan sat back, "So, if that's something you're interested in, we'll give you a packet to look over, it'll give you the dates you'll need to have off and all of the rules and regulations. And then you'll have to call us back to let us know yes or no."

Juliana took a deep breath, "Ok, there's just one thing. I don't live here in Illinois, I'm actually from St. Louis, Missouri. I can fly anywhere you would need me too, but I'm not a local."

"That's fine." Jordan replied. "If you're interested, we'll tell you which audition site to go to since there are only a couple left."

"Can we have a minute?" Juliana asked.

"Sure, take your time." Michael replied, and the two men stood up and walked back into the bar.

Randy looked at Juliana, "What are you thinking?"

"Well, it sounds like an incredible opportunity. Even if I don't get further than the first round, I still think it would be fun just to try. See what people think. But, I have my job, and you work Mondays." Juliana began to rattle off, but Randy held his hand up.

"Jules, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity, you have to go for it! As far as your job goes, you've been looking for a new one anyway, put in your notice. Live off of your inheritance for awhile, try this out and see where it takes you. As far as me working Mondays, big deal, we can talk on the phone, and I'll fly out to where you are for the rest of my time off. We can rent an apartment, or if you have to live on site somewhere, I'll stay in a hotel. No worries. Jules, you can't pass up this opportunity." Randy said fully supporting her.

"Alright, I'll do it." She said smiling.

Randy hugged her tight and gave her a kiss, "Let's go say yes before they change their mind."

And they headed into the bar and told them yes. They gave her the information packet, and said their good-byes and good lucks.

Randy and Juliana headed up to their room to go to sleep because Wrestlemania was coming quick.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thanks for being so patient, please continue to read and review. What do you think will happen with Randy and Juliana once they aren't together all of the time. Who's the mysterious diva who is madly jealous of Juliana and what will she be like once Juliana is away? Thanks!!!!


	12. Chapter 12

Your reviews were wonderful!!! I've been sick all week with a HORRIBLE cold, so thank you so much for reviewing and raising my spirits! Here's an update, and have a great day!!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Remember, some events and things are not as they "truly" were, they are needed to be changed to help me with the story, so please don't get upset if I change some of the outcomes of the matches. Thanks!!!

Juliana tried to not play the lost puppy as she traveled with Randy to some of his events for Wrestlemania. She went exploring the downtown area while Randy and John went to the gym, and now it was getting to be crunch time for the show.

Juliana was sitting in the green room where the catering was while the wrestlers were in their big meeting. She mingled with some of the other wrestlers' wives, but she mainly hung out with Randy's parents.

The meeting released, and the wrestlers flooded into the green room for dinner. Randy headed over to where his parents and Jules were sitting. "Hey guys, I'm so glad you could make it." He said to his parents, then he leaned down and gave Jules a little kiss, "How are you feeling?"

Juliana nodded, "Much better. No headache and no dizziness. How are you feeling?"

Randy smiled, "I'm fine." Then he turned to his parents, who were watching Randy and Jules with a little smile. "Did she tell you that we're back together?"

Elaine smiled, "Oh, that's wonderful!" And she gave Jules a little hug.

Bob smiled and nodded, "Well that's great son. Now let's eat!"

And they all sat and had dinner together. Juliana couldn't believe at how much it felt like nothing had changed, yet a lot had changed, and a lot of years had passed. Randy and Juliana filled them in on the American Idol offer and some other things.

Once dinner was over, it was time for the wrestlers to get ready, so Bob and Elaine took Jules and they headed to their seats. They talked a little about what all Jules had been up to and what Becky and Nathan (Randy's siblings) had been up to.

They watched the matches until Juliana was tapped on the shoulder by a security guard, "Ma'am, are you Juliana?"

She nodded, "Yes sir."

"Can you come with me?" He asked, "You're being requested."

She looked over at Bob and Elaine who were watching with a smile, and then she turned back to the security man, "Yes sir." And she got up and walked with him.

He escorted her backstage, and there she seen the wrestlers walking around, and there was Randy looking nervous. "I'm glad you came back here." He said to Jules. He looked at Rob the security guy, "Thanks man."

"No problem!" Rob said nodding towards him and walking off.

Juliana gave Randy a hug, "Are you ready?"

Randy nodded, "Yeah, we just got done working out the details. Rey's off playing with his kids to relax and Kurt's hanging out with his wife, and I wanted to see you."

Jules smiled, "Aww.." She sat down by him. He was watching a monitor of the show. "So, are you going to tell me what happens?"

Randy smiled and shook his head, "Hell no. Why would I do something like that?"

She laughed and nudged him, "You can't say I didn't try. Were you in trouble for your head?"

He laughed and shook his head, "No, we taped a vignette where it shows that Kurt and Rey ganged up on me in the back and they busted me up before the show started that they're going to play before the match. And that they've been playing on the pre-show."

"Good, I felt really bad." Juliana replied.

Randy sat there holding her hand and talking to her about the match a little bit, and what was going on after the show when Kurt Angle walked up to them.

"Sorry to interrupt, but we're up next." Kurt said to Randy.

Randy smiled, "Kurt, this is my girlfriend Juliana, Juliana this is Kurt."

Juliana smiled and held her hand out, "It's very nice to meet you."

"You too." He said shaking her hand.

Randy gave her a kiss and whispered in her ear, "I'll wink at you in the crowd when I get in the ring."

She smiled and nodded, "I'll be there."

Before she was even out of ear shot she heard Kurt say to Randy, "So, no more women for Randy? Whatever will the world do?"

Rey laughed, "Yeah, I wonder if anyone's broken the news to Jillian yet?"

Randy laughed it off and headed to gorilla position while Juliana headed off to her seat. She knew that Randy had been a partier and according to the internet he was a womanizer, but the more people they ran into, the more it seemed like it was truer than she realized. She knew that he had given her his word, no other women. Just the two of them, but yet part of her was still hesitant to believe him as much as she hated to admit it.

Juliana got back to her seat just in time as they began to announce the match. Randy's parents smiled at her. Randy's music was the last to hit, she cheered as loud as she could and Randy held true to his word. As he was going from corner to corner to pose, he walked by her side and once on the turnbuckle; he met her gaze and winked at her. She smiled, blushed and winked back at him. She was so proud of him. She remembered when this was all a dream of Randy's and now here he was.

She watched the match intensely. She followed every move and cheered him on. When they spilled outside of the ring, she was right up against the wall. Finally there was the three-count and she couldn't believe it, in front of a capacity crowd they announced Randy's biggest accomplishment, "The New World Heavyweight Champion…Randy Orton!"

She jumped up and down and cheered him on with tears in her eyes. Randy sank to his knees with the belt and just stared at it. When he looked up and lifted it high into the air the capacity crowd roared with excitement. The match had been great, and the ending was even better! He jumped up and began to pose on each turnbuckle with it. Finally it was time for him to get out of the ring and head to the back. He slid out of the ring and went over to his mom and his dad and posed for the camera with them while holding the belt. Then out of sheer surprise to Juliana, he walked to her and gave her a quick kiss on the lips and squeezed her hand as he headed towards the ramp. The camera had caught it all! Juliana was shocked! In a good way, but it still surprised her he would do that because of all the internet speculation and they hadn't even talked about what they were going to do about their relationship as far as outing themselves goes due to his fan base.

Jillian watched from a monitor backstage with fire in her eyes. "Who the hell did this bitch think she was?" Jillian thought to herself. She roared with anger and stomped off towards the divas dressing room so she wouldn't have to see his smug face. She had to come up with a plan and fast.

Once Wrestlemania was over Bob, Elaine and Jules headed backstage. There it was like one, big party. Everyone was discussing plans of partying and then heading to Chicago for the Raw taping the next night.

Jules finally found Randy and Randy smiled as he seen her. "Hey beautiful," he called to her.

She smiled and went to him and gave him a big hug, "Randy, I am so proud of you. Your match was great."

Randy held her tight and kissed her. He looked over at his mom and dad, "What are you guys going tonight?"

Bob shook his head, "We're going to head back to the hotel and get some sleep before we fly out early tomorrow. Son, I'm so proud of you, congratulations champ." Bob said to him with a smile and gave him a hug.

Elaine smiled, "I'm really proud of you Randy, you looked great out there." And she hugged him also.

Bob patted him on the back, "We're going to get going, so you kids have a great night of celebrating and we'll be watching Raw at home."

Randy smiled, "Sounds good, I'll see you guys on Tuesday."

They nodded and said their goodbyes and headed out.

Randy looked at Jules, "Are you ready to paint the town?"

Jules smiled, "Boy am I ever!"

"Let's get out of here then." Randy said taking her hand. And they headed out to the car hand in hand.

HOURS LATER

Randy had definitely had his share and Juliana's share of alcohol and was partying it up with everybody. Juliana was playing designated driver and just letting Randy have a good time. He was out on the dance floor with Juliana dancing for awhile, but she had started to get a headache so she headed to a table while Randy started dancing with Trish Stratus.

Lillian Garcia sat down by Juliana. "I haven't met you yet, I'm Lillian."

Juliana smiled and shook her hand, "I'm Juliana. It's very nice to meet you."

"It's nice to meet you too. I've heard a lot about you." Lillian replied.

"Well, I have to tell you, you have a very beautiful voice." Juliana replied.

"Thanks!" Lillian said with a smile. "I heard that you're dating Randy."

Juliana blushed a little and nodded, "Yes, that's me."

"How long have you guys known each other if I may ask?" Lillian inquired.

"We've known each other since we were little kids. We went to school together and we dated for many years, and then we broke up, and now we're back together and seeing if we can make it work." Juliana replied.

Lillian smiled, "That's great. It's cool that you've known each other for so long. I wanted to talk to you about his reputation a little."

Juliana smiled, "Yes, my friend and I still follow and we've read about it a bit." She started to say when Lillian interrupted her.

"Most of it is true, and half of it isn't even printed. You're probably going to get some heckling just from the fact that Randy hasn't been in a real "relationship" in quite sometime. Yes he used to get around, and him and the divas do have quite a history, but don't let that scare you away. Randy is a great guy. He has a great heart, and he's a real stand-up guy. And some of the divas may be very, very jealous of what he's building with you, but just remember that you're the one he chose. Don't let them scare you off. They can be pretty ruthless and as long as you and Randy can get through that, you'll have a great relationship." Lillian said sincerely.

Juliana smiled and nodded, "Yes, I've heard many comments and I've seen some of the girls with him get that weird look when he says who I am, but I'm keeping in mind that he has been playing the field for quite sometime until now, so I'm trying to not let it get to me. And due to our past there will be a little bit of insecurity, but I'm going to do my best to not let it get to me, and if is starts to, then that's something him and I will have to talk about."

Lillian smiled, "You have a good head on your shoulders, and with this business when you're a good-looking male superstar, the woman in your life has to have some understanding when it comes to female fans and even your co-workers, and it sounds like you have that. If you ever have any questions, or need someone to talk to who isn't trying anything funny, feel free to look me up."

Juliana smiled, "I appreciate that, thank you." She looked over and Randy was looking at Trish's engagement ring and talking to her about it. She laughed a little, "You know, I think things will be just fine."

Lillian laughed and the two girls began talking about singing and began to form a great friendship.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Thank you so much for your patient, my cold is finally gone and I can finally think. Here's a heads up, the next chapter is going to begin to move the couple forward past all of the Wrestlemania hype, so be prepared, the story is going to take off after this chapter.

Please continue to read and review, good or bad!!!


	13. Chapter 13

**I have to admit, I was surprised to see that there was still interest in this story. Thank you so much for the reviews and I hope that this will not let you down! I am writing the story my way, I am not following current storylines, rosters, etc… THANKS!**

Randy came back over to Juliana and Lillian's table and kissed her, "How's it going ladies?"

Juliana smiled, "Great thanks. How about you?"

"Pretty good, pretty good." Randy replied slurring his words a bit.

"I'll be back, time for my nightly check-in call." Lillian said making her exit.

"Are you having a good time?" Randy asked while squeezing her hand.

She nodded "I am thank you."

"Well, I'm officially drunk, and I was thinking maybe we should call it a night?" He slurred to her.

Juliana laughed, "Yeah, I think that's a good idea." She stood up and let Randy lean on her a bit and they headed out to her car.

Jillian looked at Ashley, "I will not that stupid bitch get my man. Mark my words."

Ashley shook her head, "I don't know. I think she's got Randy wrapped."

"Fuck that, I am the only one that gets Randy. ONLY me." Jillian said slamming another shot. "I am figuring out my plan."

The next morning Randy woke up and found that he was in bed alone. He sat up, "Jules?" He called out.

Juliana popped her head out of the bathroom, "Good morning!"

He groaned and laid back down, "Ugh, morning. How long till we leave?"

Juliana looked at her watch, "Well, according to my watch, 45 minutes. John said to give you 15 more minutes."

Randy got up grumbling, "I'm going to get in the shower. Then I'll be in a better mood."

John was down at the continental breakfast and wound up running into Jillian down there. "So John…tell me something. I heard a rumor floating around that Randy has gone off and attempted to have a girlfriend. Is it true?"

"Yup, sure is. And he really likes her, so do him a favor and respect that. I heard some rumors last night at the club, so let me tell you. If you even want to attempt any type of relationship with him from here on out, I suggest you back off and let him be happy with her." John said patting her back. "Because he'll drop you so fast you won't know what hit ya." And he walked back to the hotel room.

Jillian shot him an evil look. How dare he interfere? "I have my plan, Maryse will help me and I will get him back for good." She growled to herself.

Randy walked out of the shower and found Juliana reading through her American Idol stuff. "Are you getting nervous?"

"Hell yeah, this is something SO unexpected, and what if they hate me? But, you have to try. So I'll try once, and if it doesn't work then it wasn't meant to be and I'll just have to go back to my normal life."

Randy grinned, "You are a smart girl, aren't ya?"

Juliana laughed and threw a pillow at him. "Are you just going to stand there in your towel all day or are you actually going to get dressed?"

"That depends, is John still gone? Because you look damn fine in that skirt." Randy said winking at her.

Before Juliana could respond, John came walking in eating a bagel and carrying a cup of coffee. "Morning dude." He said to Randy. "You ready yet?"

"As soon as I'm dressed." Randy said as he pulled his clothes out of his bag. "What time did you get in last night?"

"Around 3," John said. "I scared the crap out of Juliana but all was ok."

Juliana blushed, "Yeah, sorry 'bout that."

"No worries." John replied patting her on the back.

There was a knock at the door, John went and answered it and found Trish and Batista standing in the doorway, "Hey, are you guys leaving?" Dave asked John. "Trish left her lights on and her battery is dead now and my rental doesn't have jumper cables in it."

"Yeah, we're leaving. Let's go." Randy called from behind John while grabbing his bag with one hand and Juliana's hand with the other.

John grabbed his bag and they all headed down to the parking lot.

"Are you coming with us to Raw?" Trish asked Juliana.

She shook her head, "No, I have to fly home and head out to Chicago. It just so happened that my flight is shortly after Randys."

"That's too bad you won't be joining us." Trish replied. "Thanks for jumping my car, I can't believe I left the headlights on."

"No problem." John said opening the trunk of his.

Soon they were at the airport and they were calling the final boarding call of Randy's flight. Randy pulled Juliana into his arms, "Jules, I wish I could be there for you."

She smiled, "It's ok. You have to work. But I'll see you when you fly out there."

He nodded. He pulled her close and gave her a very sweet kiss. "I'll see you soon, and I will call you when I can. Good luck babe."

"Thanks! Bye," She waved as he boarded the plane.

She turned and began heading towards her own flight. This was definitely going to be the beginning of something life-changing.

**What does Jillian have up her sleeve? Will Randy truly value having Jules back in his life? How will Juliana do at her AI audition? PLEASE read and review!!**


	14. Chapter 14

** A special thanks to Ctinaisfashion for getting me to continue on this story. I abandoned it in 2009, so here goes! PS: Remember, this is from 2009, yes some of the characters don't even wrestle anymore, but bear with me please. PS: I know NOTHING about American Idol, I haven't watched it since Ruben was on. LOL! If the facts aren't perfect about the audition process, I'm sorry! **

Randy was texting Juliana throughout the day on Monday to see how everything was going. He was busy reading her response when he felt someone come up behind him and slide her hands around his waist, "Hey sexy."

He turned and smiled, "What's up Jillian?"

"Oh, nothing much. Wanna grab something to eat?"

Randy shrugged his shoulders, "Sure, why not?"

She took his hand and started to put it on her hip. When he realized what she was doing, he pulled his arm back, "What are you doing?"

"I have something you can eat." She said in a purring voice.

"Jillian, I have a girlfriend now." Randy replied. "We can't fool around anymore."

Jillian's face turned angry, "How the hell can you go off and start dating some girl when you and I had a good thing going?"

"All we had was sex Jillian. Nothing more. I'm sorry. Jules means a lot to me." He replied sternly. "And I'm not going to screw it up again."

"What are you trying to say Randy?" She sneered.

He looked her square in the eye, "You and I were just a fling. Nothing more. I love her. The end." And Randy turned and walked off.

Jillian stormed off in anger. How dare he insult her like that. He wanted to make things difficult….fine. Let the games begin.

Randy shook his head and went into the green room. He plopped down on the couch in there and continued texting with Juliana. When her section was called to go in for the audition he finally got up and decided to hit the gym.

When he walked in, he spotted Dave and Trish working out. He nodded his head towards them and walked over. "What's up?"

"Nothing, how's your girlfriend's audition going?" Trish asked.

"I don't know yet. Her section got called in, and I haven't heard yet." Randy replied.

"Boy wouldn't that be something. Your girlfriend could be the next American Idol!" Dave replied in his best Ryan Seacrest tone.

They all laughed and began to workout . Randy's cell phone began to vibrate. He pulled it out and in big letters he saw "I GOT A GOLDEN TICKET! My second audition is tomorrow. Then if I pass that, I'll go before the judges in Hollywood."

He quickly told everyone and text her back, "Babe, that's great! So tomorrow you'll know if you're headed to Hollywood or not?"

"Yup. Today I sang "Purple Rain" and I haven't completely figured out what I'm going to do tomorrow. YIKES!"

Randy laughed and was texting back and forth with Juliana.

Trish looked over at Dave. "Have you EVER seen Randy be like this with a girl?"

Dave shook his head, "Fuck no. Are you kidding?"

Trish laughed, "Maybe this girl will be a good thing for Randy."

**MEANWHILE**

Jillian was sitting in Ashley's dressing room. "Girl, you're the only one who is willing to help me out on this. Everybody else is like "Oh Jillian, let him be. I don't give a shit if I care about him or not. The fact is that we were fooling around, and then he goes off and starts dating somebody."

Ashley looked at her, "You don't love him?"

"Fuck no. This isn't about love. This is about a better life. All I have to do is show him that I would make a better trophy wife then that stupid bitch."

Ashley shrugged her shoulders and went back to doing her hair. "So what is your plan?"

"Well…I'm thinking I'm going to let him be tonight. Then tomorrow when we get to Smackdown, I know a guy who can score me something good that I can slip in his drink. When he wakes up next to me, he'll have no choice but to tell her what happened, then I get him and she can hit the road."

Ashley nodded, "It sounds like you've got it all worked out."

"I sure do. I'm going to teach that asshole a lesson. Then when it doesn't work out with her, I'll be there waiting with my arms wide open."

As Jillian walked out, Ashley made a face. She didn't overly care about what happened between Randy and Jillian. They weren't committed, it's not like he cheated on her. But, slipping drugs into his drink? That could get him suspended if they randomly drug tested him. So she decided to do a little snooping around.

She went over to Lillian. "Hey Lil, do you know if there's any drug testing going on in the next two weeks?"

Lillian shook her head, "Not that I know of, but they've been really sneaky about that now. Why?"

Ashley shook her head and whispered, "Because Jillian is plotting revenge on Randy tomorrow night, but I don't want to see him get in trouble because she's jealous. But you didn't hear it from me."

Lillian shook her head and smiled, "Hear what?"

"Thanks Lil. Later!" And Ashley bounced off.

Lillian was thankful that Ashley was a bit of a big mouth, but she had a big heart. Jillian on the other hand….she was about to get herself into some big trouble. Lillian headed over to the table that Stephanie was sitting at feeding the baby.

"Hey Steph, Rumor mill."

Steph looked at Lillian intrigued. "You have my attention."

Lillian leaned close, "Jillian is upset that Randy has a girlfriend and is seeking revenge involving drugs and Randy tomorrow night."

Steph looked at Lillian, "How do you know that?"

"I have a source who is concerned Randy will fail a drug test and she doesn't want to see him get in trouble."

"Gotcha. Thanks Lillian." Stephanie replied. She was not about to let some diva drama screw up one of their biggest superstars "good" streak. She text her dad, "We need to talk."

**AFTER RAW**

Randy heard Stephanie call for him down the hall. He stopped and turned, "What's up?"

"Can I talk to you?" She replied in a no-nonsense tone.

"Yup." Randy replied as he rolled his eyes inside his head. There was a botched spot in his match and he was pretty pissed off about it and he knew he shouldn't have snapped like he did on Kofi backstage, but Randy had to be careful with his shoulders and he could feel the pain instantly.

He walked into Stephanie's make-shift office. "Look Steph, I'm sorry I went off on Kofi. I'll apologize to him when he gets out of the showers."

"Sit down Randy. This isn't about Kofi."

Randy sat down and looked at Steph, "Ok, what did I do."

"You fell for a different girl and you pissed someone off." Stephanie replied.

"Excuse me? What does my personal life have to do with anything?" Randy replied a bit upset.

"Settle down. I don't give a shit who you date. But, apparently a certain diva does. And she's plotting revenge on you. I want you to be aware of the situation because we're handling it, but I don't want you to inadvertently set yourself up for failure. Don't go out after the show tonight, don't go out after the show tomorrow." Stephanie said sternly. "Whatever she is trying to set up involves drugs and a concerned party didn't want you to fail a drug test because this diva has flipped her lid."

"Fuckin' Jillian." He grumbled. "Steph, thank you. I wasn't going to make anything of it. But I appreciate you doing something about it." And he got up and left the office angrily.


	15. Chapter 15

**Xandman216, you were busy last night! LOL! Ctinaisfashion, thank you for convincing me to finish this story!**

Randy went and approached Kofi in the locker room. "Dude, sorry I flipped my shit back there."

Kofi smiled and shook hands with him, "It's cool man. Sorry I fucked up in the ring. Your shoulder ok?"

Randy nodded, "Yeah, it'll be fine."

"Goin' out tonight? I owe you a shot after that." Kofi replied.

Randy shook his head, "Nah…my girl made it to round two of Idol auditions, so I've gotta touchbase with her."

Kofi's eyes widened, "Damn! She must be pretty good."

Randy nodded, "Yeah, she really is. We'll see what round two holds for her. I'll catch ya later." And Randy headed out to the parking lot. He was in a foul mood right now. He sighed and dialed Juliana's phone number.

"Hello?" She answered sleepily.

"Aw shit, did I wake you up?"

"No…yeah…kinda. I have to be back there at 6:00a.m. tomorrow. You looked good on Raw. How's your shoulder feel after that shot?" She said sitting up in bed.

"It's tight, but it'll be ok. I'm not going out tonight, I'm just going to chill in the room with some ice on it." He replied.

"Are you ok? You sound pissy." Jules asked.

"No, I'm fuckin' pissed off right now." Randy said holding nothing back. "This stupid bitch diva is really getting on my nerves and Stephanie is involved and I'm just ornery."

"Stupid bitch diva? Help me out here…I'm a bit confused."

"Remember Jillian? Before you and I got back together, her and I fooled around a few times. Nothing serious, we weren't dating, we were just two adults passing time with each other. Now she's pissed because you and I are dating. So she's trying to drug me and set something up and someone told Stephanie about it because they were worried I would fail a drug test. So now I'm basically on lockdown until Steph gets to the bottom of this." Randy replied angrily.

Juliana didn't quite know what think. So she tried humor, "Randy, do you know what I think?"

"What's that?"

"I think you should quit screwing divas. Forget about them. They're fun to look at and flirt with, but stop taking them to your room. I think you'd be better off with somebody outside of the business, not trying to get into the wrestling business." She bit her bottom lip as she waited for his response.

Randy couldn't help but smile, "Oh, do you now? Gee, do you have any other advise or idea about the type of woman I should date?"

"Well…let's see. How about someone who has known you for awhile, like when you used to eat paste in kindergarten when the teacher wasn't looking, or someone who remembers you finding a garter snake on the playground and sneaking it into your second grade classroom and putting it on your teachers chair. Somebody who comes with a little bit of baggage that is manageable. A girl who has no problem being independent and pursuing what she wants. But at the same time, still hopes for the approval of her significant other…IF there's one in the picture." Juliana said with a smile.

Randy laughed, "First off, I only ate paste a couple times. Second, I think I might know the perfect girl.

"Did you just use the word perfect? Then I know you're not talking about me."

Randy pulled into the parking lot at the hotel. "Babe, what song are you singing tomorrow?"

"I don't know, I'm stuck. I did a ballad today, so I was thinking maybe I should do something upbeat tomorrow? Or do I stick with ballads?"

Randy shrugged to himself, "Hell I don't know. I've never even watched the show. But, I say prepare for both. What else do you have to do?"

"Well, if I get a golden ticket tomorrow then that means I'm going to Hollywood. So, before I sing, I have to sit down with the producers and tell them my background and my life story." She said nervously.

"You're going to be honest, right? Tell them the truth about your dad and Nana. This might sound shitty, but you're a feel good story. It'll make for good television. You've risen above the odds." Randy said as he walked into his room.

"That's what Nikki said. But, I have a question for you. What do I do if Seacrest asks me if I'm seeing anyone? Are you going to be in trouble if I talk about us?"

"Fuck no. Make it known, make it loud. Hell, tell him that we dated in high school too, that'll get him going."

Juliana laughed, "Randy you're crazy."

"I know, but you love me because of it."

She giggled. "I hate to do this, but I'm in a different time zone, and I have to be up in four hours. I need to sleep. But I'll text you and let you know how everything goes."

"Alright Jules. Good night." Randy said as he hung up. He went down to the ice machine and loaded up a bag of ice and sat down with a beer and the ice on his shoulder and flipped channels on the tv.

**The next day**

Randy spent his day pretty much hiding out as Stephanie had instructed him. Instead of riding the bus to the next show, he rented a car and drove with John.

Around eleven John's phone went off, he glanced at it. "DAMN dude! Jillian got released today. According to Kurt, they busted her putting drugs in a bottle of alcohol and when questioned she admitted she was trying to blackmail you. They agreed to not press criminal charges as long as she left quietly."

Randy smirked and shook his head, "I guess today is going to be a good day."

They arrived at the arena and the buzz of Jillian's release was quietly floating in the air. Not everyone knew the entire story, but a few did.

Finally around 3:00pm his phone rang. He saw it was Juliana's number, "Hey babe."

"Wow, calling me babe and you haven't even taken me to dinner yet. Kind of getting ahead of yourself, aren't ya? Seriously Randy, it's Ryan Seacrest how are you doing?"

Randy laughed, "I'm good Ryan, how are you?"

"Real good. Do you have a minute?" Ryan replied with his overly bubbly self.

"Yeah, I'm just preparing to annihilate Kurt Angle in our match tonight for Smackdown. What's up?"

"Well I happen to be standing outside the arena with your girlfriend Juliana. And she has something she wants to tell you."

"Hi Randy, there's something I need to tell you." She said coyly.

"Hey Jules, tell me anything."

"I'M GOING TO HOLLYWOOD!" She screamed.

Ryan Seacrest waited a minute as Randy congratulated her, "That's right folks, look out competition Randy Orton's girlfriend has officially made it to Hollywood. How will she stack up against the other hopefuls? We'll have to wait and see on this season of American Idol.

Randy could hear the crowd in the background going crazy. "Thanks for being a good sport Randy."

"Yeah no problem. Jules, call me later, I've gotta run."

Kurt looked at Randy, "So she made it?"

Randy nodded, "Yup, she's headed to Hollywood."

"I'll make sure Karen votes for her." Kurt said with a laugh.

"Thanks man." And they headed off to the meeting.

That night, Randy called Juliana and when she answered he promptly replied, "How's my Hollywound bound girl?"

"Oh my God…I can't believe it." She said happily. "And, I have the schedule, performance night is Wednesdays and the result show is on Thursdays. Will you be able to make it?"

Randy smiled, "Unless there's an appearance or an overseas tour that comes up, I'll be there."

"Thanks Randy! I really appreciate it. You're support means the world to me. And I know that we just got back together, and here we are, going to be apart for most of the next eighteen weeks."

"But, we have each other, and we know how we feel and that's all we need." Randy replied. "There's email and texting and phones, Skype, we'll be just fine."

They talked for a little while longer about the show and the process. Then they hung up because Randy was headed out to dinner with the guys.

**YAY for Juliana! The next 18 weeks are going to be pretty interesting for this couple. Please read and review!**


	16. Chapter 16

Life had been incredibly crazy for Juiana and Randy. They really didn't have much of a chance to work on their relationship. Juliana lived in a house with the other contestants and Randy was on the road a lot. But he did make sure that he made it to her shows as often as possible. And when he did, Ryan Seacrest always made sure to make some corny comment. They text, emailed and Skyped every night though.

Now here she was is...in the final four. Juliana couldn't believe that she had made it this far. And it was even better that Randy had been right there by her side. And yes being strained was hard, but hopefully this was all going to be worth it. She had practiced morning, noon and night. The internet showed that she was definitely a favorite. She had the endorsement of most of the WWE along with a lot of viewers at home. There were even fansites that had been created in her honor. Juliana felt like she owed it to everyone to make it all the way...and so far she was doing pretty good. Her perforamances had been great, but she had a touch of a cold and last night she felt like she just wasn't at her best. And tonight was the elimination night and she was so nervous.

Her thoughts were interrupted by her cell phone ringing. She looked at it and smiled, "Hey babe."

"Hey Jules. How are you feeling?" Randy asked.

"Horrible. My chest hurts and I'm stuffy. But I can't wait to see you." Juliana replied.

"Well...I have to talk to you about called and he needs me to fulfill an appearance. I told him what was going on, but I don't have a choice, I have to be there. I'm so sorry." Randy said solemnly.

Juliana tried to hide the disappointment. She knew that she should feel special because he had been able to make almost all of the shows. But with her being sick making such an impact on her performance she really wanted him there. "It's ok, I understand."

"Jules, I'm sorry. I promise, I'll make it up to you. I'll be at the rest of the shows, I promise." Randy said sweetly.

"You don't need to make me promises. I know that you get busy with work. It's ok. I'm just really nervous about this one. My range wasn't very good because of my congestion so I'm really worried. But, I'll be ok. Just being here has been amazing. Anyways, will I be able to see you before you leave?" Juliana asked. She sure did hope so.

"Only briefly. I'm on my way there now." Randy replied. "I should be there in about ten minutes."

"Sounds good hon. See you soon." And Juliana hung up.

She met Randy in the back parking lot and wrapped her arms around him and held him tight. "I'm so nervous Randy."

He shook his head, "Look, America loves you. They're going to understand that you are sick. You can't be healthy all the time."

"Yeah I know." Juliana grumbled.

They talked for a little bit and then were interrupted by a few American Idol fans looking for an autograph. Randy and Juliana happily obliged, then Randy looked at his watch, "Shit, I've gotta run."

Juliana wrapped her arms around him and held him close. "I really appreciate you stopping by before you had to go."

Randy leaned down and kissed her sweetly. "I have faith in you. And no matter what happens out there, you'll always be a winner in my book."

"Thanks, I'll call you after the show." Juliana replied kissing him again.

"Mmm...you keep that up and I'm going to run really late." Randy teased.

"Ha Ha funny. I'm sick, remember?"

He smirked, "Yeah...yeah. There's always something. Good luck babe." Randy said as he got into his rental car and took off.

Juliana stood on the stage as confident as she could be. But nothing would have prepared her for the minute her name was called as the contestant who was going home. She hugged the rest of the finalists and sang her farewell song. Then the show was over, and she had thirty minutes to pack her stuff.

She tried and tried to get ahold of Randy, but he wasn't answering. She was running out of time, so she gave up and headed back to the house. The Idol administrators talked to her about what her requirements would be and reminded her of the rules. She quickly packed her stuff, said goodbye to her roommate and housemates and left.

Juliana was still trying to get ahold of Randy. Where could he be? Oh well, what could she do? She got into the awaiting taxi and headed to the airport. She was so bumed out.

As she was waiting for her boarding call, Randy finally called her back.

"Hey babe! Sorry I was tied up for a bit. What's your theme for next week?" Randy asked.

Juliana couldn't hold back, she got a bit teary. "I got eliminated. I'm at the airport."

Randy's heart sank, "Crap, I'm so sorry. Where are you headed?"

"I'm headed home. I need to start job hunting and figuring out my life again." Juliana replied.

"Jules, is there anything I can do?" Randy asked.

"No, not really. I know you've got a busy week ahead of you so don't worry about me. I'm just going to chillout and start sending out my resume again. Time to get back to work." Juliana said trying to sound confident.

"What kind of work are you going to go into?"

"Well, probably stick with what I've been doing. Marketing...public relations...something along those lines. But, they're calling my flight." Juliana said. "I will call you as soon as I land."

"Alright babe. I'm sorry."

"Me too. Good night Randy." Juiana replied as she hung up the phone.

She sat down in her seat on the plane and started to let her imagination run wild. What was she going to do with the rest of her life? Although, now her life was open so she could attempt to focus on her growing relationship with Randy. But, she still needed to figure out where to go from here. She couldn't live on her inheritance forever.

She put on her headphones and sighed. Her eyes closed and she faded into the music. Once she was at home, she could let herself have the really good cry she was dying inside to have.

**What will Juliana do with the rest of her life? Will Randy be helpful...or hurtful? Please read and review!**


	17. Chapter 17

**Sorry for the delay in the updates on this story. I don't know why this one is so hard for me to write. I'm sorry! Please read and review!**

Upon arriving back home, Juliana let herself have a little breakdown. What the hell was she thinking? She grabbed her phone and called Randy.

Randy answered after a few rings, "Hey babe. Are you doing ok?"

"Yeah…no…kind of. I just…I don't know what I was thinking. So, I'm going to soak in a hot bubble bath, maybe let myself have a glass or two of wine and relax. Tomorrow I'll be busy sending out my resume and job hunting." She replied sounding bummed out.

"You have a ton of talent. You were sick, nobody should expect you to be perfect, you're human." Randy replied. "I'll be home tomorrow. And I'll take you out on the town and show you just how much of a winner you are in my book."

"Thanks Randy. Good night."

"G'night babe." Randy replied as he hung up. What she didn't know was that he was already at the airport. He would be boarding a plane in about twenty minutes and would be arriving home soon.

Juliana poured herself a glass of wine, ran a hot bubble bath and soaked. It was time to bring her life back to normal. She would put her resume online and begin networking again. Just this time, she would probably be asked about Idol.

She got out of the tub and made her way to the bed. She was exhausted. And soon she fell asleep.

Hours later, Randy slipped in quietly. He wanted to surprise her. He couldn't wait to see the excitement on her face.

He snuck up the stairs and smiled as he saw the light on in the hallway. He stepped as lightly as he could as he went into her bedroom.

Randy stripped down and carefully pulled the covers back. He slid into bed with her.

Juliana's eyes popped open and she froze.

Randy put his arm around her and pulled her close and began kissing her shoulders.

"Please…take whatever you want…just don't do this." Juliana whispered with tears streaming down her face.

Randy stopped, "Jules, it's me, Randy."

"WHAT?" She cried and jumped up. Then she looked at him, "What are you doing here?"

"I was trying to be romantic." Randy replied sitting up. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean…"

"Romantic? Jesus Randy you scared the shit out of me." Juliana said nervously.

"I didn't mean to scare you. I just thought this would be sweet since you were so sad." Randy said reaching out to her hand. "I didn't mean for you to think I was your Dad or your ex."

She shook her head, "I didn't think that either! I'm screwed up, but not that bad. I thought you were a burglar or a rapist, But I didn't think that."

Randy threw his head back, "I'm sorry! I just wanted to be sweet. That's all. Now let's get back in bed and I'll try to cheer you up…again"

Juliana smiled, "You still want to fool around after all of this?"

He laughed, "Hon, I'm always in the mood. Are you kidding?" And he pulled her close and kissed her. "Besides, it's been awhile since we've been intimate and I think we need to change that."

She smiled, "I'm sorry I freaked out."

Randy kissed her again, "I'm sorry I scared you."

Then he laid her down and made love to her. Without scaring her this time.

Randy woke up to the sun streaming through the window. He reached over and went to put his arm around her, but she wasn't there.

He got up and pulled on his sweat pants and headed downstairs.

There was Juliana sitting at the table with her laptop and a cup of coffee. She looked up and smiled, "Morning sunshine." She said with a smile.

Randy leaned down and kissed her, "Morning sexy. What are you up to?"

She took another sip of coffee, "Putting my resume out there and seeing what kind of positions are available."

Randy winked at her, "I know a few positions that are available."

"Ha Ha funny. Those won't pay my bills."

"They could…" He teased.

"Good Lord Randal." She laughed. "It's almost 11, wanna shower and go out to lunch?"

"Sounds good to me." He said as he went and poured himself a cup of coffee. "Want to come with me this weekend?"

Linnea shrugged, "We'll see. I haven't been home in so long, maybe it'll be good for me to be home and work through all of the legals surrounding Nana's estate."

"Alright, I'm going to shower." Randy said kissing her cheek.

By the time Randy was done in the shower, Juliana was dressed and ready to go. He quickly got dressed and they headed off.

They were talking and laughing when Randy stopped, "Is your phone ringing?"

"What?" She asked. Then she dug through her purse, "Hello?"

"Is this Juliana Ferguson?" the male voice asked.

"This is."

"My name is Charlie Robinson and I'm calling on behalf of Capitol Records." He said. "I wanted to touchbase with you because we are very interested in bringing your sound to our label. Would you be available to fly into Nashville and meet with us sometime in the next week?"

Juliana was shocked. "Umm…sure! I'm available anytime."

"Great, I'll have my assistant make the arrangements and we'll email you everything you need to know. I look forward to meeting you."

"You too sir, thank you." She hung up the phone and screamed.

Randy jumped, "Jesus Jules, what?"

"That…that…that was someone from Capital Records. They want to meet with me about possibly signing me to their label. He's making arrangements to fly me to Nashville."

"Oh my God Jules! That's great! Congratulations!" He said happily. "Lunch is now to celebrate."

They went to their favorite restaurant and celebrated. "I can't believe it! I don't know what to say. Or what to think." Juliana replied.

"Go with it. Have fun. You never know where it'll take you." Randy said squeezing her hand.

"You are so supportive. Thank you. God, you have really changed." She said running her thumb along the top of his hand.

Randy smiled, "You're right. I have. I'm not the same guy anymore. And it means so much to me that you see that. And have given me a second chance. And I will be here for you anytime you need me." And he leaned across the table as he kissed her.

Juliana looked into his eyes, "I love you Randy."

He looked taken aback, it was the first time she had said those words. "I love you too Jules. Let's finish lunch and then have a date night."

She smiled, "That sounds great Mr. Orton."

**What's going to happen with the meeting in Nashville? Will they offer her a contract? How will Randy and Juliana's relationship do if they're apart so much? Please read and review!**


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